Fully Alive
by DemolitionLvr
Summary: Origin Rewrite. Azar never saved Angela Roth, who had to raise Raven by herself, unrestrained demon powers and all. When Raven has to flee her boarding school and hides in Gotham, will the city's young protector get her to open up in time to stop the end of the world? M b/c of graphic prologue.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Her cotton dress kept ripping as she fled through the dark woods. The once-white cloth couldn't warm her; she felt chilled to her very core.

Filth- she embodied the word.

Death- she wished for its release.

No one could help her now. No one should help her now.

Her feet pounded the forest floor, crunching leaves and snapping twigs. The recent drought made everything she crashed through crack dryly, and the sounds echoed in her terrified ears. Through the noise she made she wouldn't hear if anyone had followed her, but it didn't matter to her delirious mind.

Her thick black hair, disheveled and matted with blood, caught on a broken tree branch. Without hesitation, she allowed the branch to rip a clump of the dirty hair out of her head as she sprinted on. She did not feel the pain. Where she was going, she knew not. If she would stop when she got there, she was even less sure.

_Her friends surrounded her in a circle. No one else had made sense to her; no one else had accepted her as easily as they had. They had shown her kindness when she had already learned that the world held none. People could scorn their beliefs if they wished. Non-believers mattered nothing to her now, while reassuring faces encouraged her to join in the mystical chant. Unearthly symbols drawn on the dirt caged her as she knelt alone in a ring of people in black._

A branch whipped her in the face, cutting her across the cheek, nearly catching her eye. She squinted to protect her eyes; if she couldn't see, she wouldn't be able to keep running. Two arms that could only belong to her, though she didn't recognize them, flailed out to keep the trees and bushes back. Her blood dripped on the ground. She imagined her blood must look like mud and burn the earth like acid, but didn't stop to see.

_Hours passed, but the rhythmic chanting blended time until it meant nothing. The ceremony had begun at sunrise, to represent the coming of a new era. It would be a glorious era when their beloved ruler would return and control the Earth. They told her he was powerful and incredible and beautiful, and a thousand other wonderful adjectives. Why else would she have agreed to become his bride? In time, the sun began to set, painting the sky red. But the red of the sunset changed- the entire sky turned a sick blood red. The speed of her friends' chanting increased in anticipation._

Her feet were bare save for the dirt she had picked up in this desperate binge to escape reality and the blood that escaped her foul body through any exit it could find. The blood poured down the insides of her thighs. Could running fast enough kill a person, she wondered. She could only pray it could- but that made her wonder if any good God would listen to such filth as her anymore.

_The ground shook. Scared, she looked around at her friends, but they weren't as she knew them. As the ground cracked beneath her, separating the nine-foot-diameter circle she was in from the people outside it, their faces twisted and distorted into sick masks, sadistic and cruel, self-serving and malicious, narcissistic and pitiless. The air suddenly smelled of brimstone, and her eyes burned from it. A roar of triumph, deep and bone-chillingly evil, came from below her._

Tears streamed down her dirty face. They created clean tracks through the black and red muck that coated her once-beautiful, defiled visage. Sweat poured off her from the action of adrenaline fueled sprinting, but she still felt no warmth. He had stolen it from her with fire. She screamed.

_Suddenly he was there. Enormous and fire-red and full of the power of Hell, he stood at his full height and laughed at the puny humans who worshiped him. The foolish creatures at his feet continued their chant, even louder now, as a cheer for their success. She had lost her voice as soon as the ground shook. Instead of rejoining the chant, she whimpered in fear of the huge figure, quivering on the ground, hoping he wouldn't notice her. But her hopes were in vain. Four cruel red eyes gazed down at her, his 'Bride.' He decided she seemed healthy enough to fulfill her purpose._

The forest seemed to brighten so she rushed to get out of it. Glancing over her shoulder back at the dark path she had come from, she saw nothing. Fearing the endless blackness behind her, she instead looked forward. Passing between two gnarled old trees whose trunks looked like contorted faces to her traumatized eyes, she burst out onto an old one-lane road. She attempted to turn on her weak, bloody feet and tired legs and follow the road wherever it led, but she skidded to the ground. The asphalt scraped half of her left calf of its skin. Sobs wracked her frame as she ran out of strength to move forward. His laughs haunted her mind and his touch poisoned her skin. Her hands became claws in her self-disgust, and she used them to try to scrape her skin off of her body.

She needed to die. He was in her mind- oh _God_, he was in her body. _It_ was in her body.

Her sobs turned to screams in an attempt to drown out the memories. She unfeelingly scratched at the skin of her arms until they bled, then moved to do the same to her bruised neck. Black soot from his fire shook off her as she shivered and writhed in pain and horror.

Lights appeared before her. Her tear-filled eyes searched for the source, but her vision blurred. Throat raw, she wailed one last time, like a wounded animal. As her body collapsed, several figures appeared around her. Had she the strength, she would have panicked and run away from the unknown people. Had the cult followed her here? The idea terrified her. But consciousness was leaving her as an elderly nun touched her face more gently than anyone ever had before and promised they would get her help and murmured that everything would be alright, 'please God.'

Angela Roth's eyes closed as the sun rose, ending the worst twenty-four hours of her, possibly anybody's, life. The Sister's presence brought comfort in that she, just for a moment, forgot the horror that had befallen her, and the future of the world because of her, as she almost laughed at the irony.

Sixteen years later, a young girl with amethyst hair and eyes was in a dead sprint with a clear head and sneaker-clad feet, tearing easily through another forest. Her story has begun.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC comics. No copyright infringement intended.<br>**

**A/N: All shall be explained as the story progresses. Review, please. Writers starve without feedback. Cheers.  
><strong>


	2. One: Merciful Dark Alleys

**Disclaimer: Characters and locations (except for the school and the unnamed forest outside Gotham; those I made up) belong to DC. No copyright infringement intended.**

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><p><em><strong>Fully Alive <strong>_

**Chapter One: Merciful Dark Alleys**

As she followed the emergency escape route, which she had planned out for herself several months ago, Raven tried to clear her mind. The pulsing fury and indignation gradually faded to the background of her mind as she considered her next move.

She had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but those girls, those abominable, insecure, vapid, harassing _children_. It wasn't as if she was fickle or cared about what they said, but when one is trying to hide their supernatural, emotion-fueled powers, there are only so many awful pranks and ignorant, insulting words one can take before they come out. And those shrews had crossed that line today.

The anger rushed back.

Blackness coated several ancient trees around her and ripped them out of the ground, leaving them to crash down around her. The falling forest forced her to her knees. Her hands above her head to feign protection, she waited, tears of fear in her eyes, for the destruction to stop. Blackness once again engulfed the trees as she ducked her face to the forest floor and wrapped her arms around her knees in a fetal position, trying, failing, to hold in her terror. The trees flew away from her.

Because the blackness came from her.

Though her knees shook and bled, she forced herself to her feet so she could continue on her path. This accident had no doubt attracted the attention of the idiots still pursuing her, after all the work she'd done to lose them, too. Damn it. She had been running for nearly an hour at her full speed; when would they give up? She was already tired and this skirt was not made for running.

Checking some markers carved into the hiking trails that filled the forest, sighing in impatience, she realized that her long run had only carried her less than a quarter of the way. And now, to ensure that she had lost her tail, she would have to leave the path and run further. Suddenly she felt thankful that her school- former school- upheld such a rigorous physical education department. She also thanked herself for constantly ignoring the school's dress code, and wearing black Chucks instead of the Mary Janes she was supposed to.

Her relentless pace through the dense greenery wore her down as the miles passed. Nevertheless, she kept up a continuous run, though, not thinking about anything besides her next step, her next breath, not tripping, not losing her way, not feeling emotion. She would not think about the shin splints she had developed, or the stitch in her side. She would not think about the damage she had done. She would not think about the people who had made her powers lash out in heated, passionate fury, and she would most certainly not think about the people who had gotten hurt because she couldn't control her demonic powers. She would not think of herself as a monster.

What could she do? No one had ever taught her how to harness her soul-self. She received no instruction, so her powers remained volatile. Her mother compared her to dynamite: not careful, and she'll blow.

_Mother..._

More black-coated rocks lifted off the ground, only to crash back to earth loudly when she managed to release the magic.

Damn it, usually she had more discipline than _this_, even if she sometimes slipped. What was wrong with her today?

How had a group of childish teenagers made her powers lash out so violently? How was her control so weak as to tear down half a school building because of their harassment and pranks?

She was a loner, a goth, and a scholarship kid. Those could have been reasons they focused their animosity on her, but she knew they weren't.

They antagonized her because, by virtue of some deeper instinct, they feared her. As well they should.

Guilt replaced anger as she thought about the nine innocent students and teachers who had been injured when the walls crumbled under her fury- thankfully no one had died, but they might have had she stayed and encountered the angry mob that seemed to have at last stopped following. Her unbalanced emotions were more than she could control right now. She wanted to sit on the ground and try to relax, maybe do some yoga or meditation, which usually helped curb her powers, but the sky darkened even as she considered it. She had to get out of this forest. As scary as Gotham City is at night, she would prefer it to being alone in the wilderness.

The sun had set fully and sky changed to black by the time she reached the outskirts of the city. Exhausted from the trek and paranoid of the darkness behind her she practically jumped out into the street. The part of town she had come out in was only sparsely inhabited, and mostly warehouses surrounded her. However, even at this time of night there were people walking Gotham's gritty streets, and the few people who saw her gave her dirty looks; how dare she act odd and jump out of forests while they were there?

Raven thought the paranoia would leave once she exited the trees, but she found that now, as she walked quickly through the near-empty streets, she felt like someone was watching her. She knew the feeling in the forest was mere fear of the dark, but this very real sensation sent chills down her spine.

Walking became harder on her desperately aching feet and knees, and her poor exhausted legs started to shake. Passing a bench, stubbornly forgoing rest, she walked on towards a more crowded part of the city. She needed to find someplace to sleep for the night. Then in the morning she would leave the city and go somewhere solitary; maybe a mountain, where no one would look for her, where she could try and teach herself to control her powers and maybe stop her father... She shuddered in fear. That subject trumped even her mother for first place on the long 'list of things she can't think about right now in order to keep her powers from exploding again.'

A shadow flashed above her, moving from one building to another. She felt chills again. Again she tried to walk a little faster, but stumbled and forced herself to calm down and proceed slower.

Her back straight from the tension and legs wobbly from weariness, Raven searched for a place to stay. She had no money of course, but she planned on finding a vacant room in a hotel and teleporting inside of it; that was assuming, of course, that she could get _that_ power to work today. With her fluctuating emotions, somehow she kind of doubted it.

From the corner of her eye she saw the shadow flash on top of a building again. Whatever that shadow was, it was the one staring and giving her chills, she could sense it. For a moment she, putting on a false facade of bravery, glared at the place where it had disappeared.

To hide the shaking in her hands she shoved them into the pockets of her dirty blazer. She needed to find somewhere to go, and soon, or that thing would get her.

She shivered and ducked into an alley. A hotel sign shone on the other side, and she was drawn to it like a moth to flame.

Gotham City does not treat with mercy those who enter dark alleys.

Three drunk men, all looking around college age, though not nearly intelligent enough to be actual college students, stumbled into the other end of the alley. Raven continued walking forward, stubbornly defying the instinct that told her that these men had cruel intentions. She wanted to stay out of sight, because the shadow following her scared her much more than three weak-looking buffoons.

Unfortunately, they weren't as weak as she originally thought when they grabbed her. Mouth covered by a dirty hand, she couldn't scream, but her outrage and disbelief begot terror and fury, which rose from her stomach and into her pounding heart, seeming to pulse out of her very being. One man tried to touch her, slurring pick-up lines he thought were charming- they weren't. Raven's eyes glowed white without her volition. Seeing the fear in their eyes, she knew what she was about to make happen; but made no move to stop it. A cornered animal will fight.

A wave of blackness slammed against the men. The powerful force slammed them back into the bricks across the alley. One fell into a pile of garbage bags. They other two lost consciousness from the blow to the head, but the one in the garbage dug himself out while she tried to calm her racing heart. As he got up, the first thing he saw was Raven. His vision blurred red in anger at being attacked, and he decided, through his alcohol-induced haze, to direct his rage at her.

Watching him drunkenly rush to assault her, she tried to recall the anger that released her power, but failed as she only felt shock. She cringed against the wall, resigned to the approaching hits, but they never came.

After a moment that lacked in attacks on her person, and hearing a grunt of pain, Raven looked up, rapidly shaking off her cowardice. Her eyes widened in amazement at the sight before her.

A young boy, her age or maybe just slightly older, dressed in a cape, green pants and gloves and a red shirt, incapacitated her attacker with three precise blows from his metal staff. His eyes, covered with a domino mask, turned to her then. Not surprisingly, she recognized him; anyone in the country, especially those who lived around Gotham, would.

Robin, Boy Wonder, had just saved her.

She smirked weakly at his title. She had always thought it was a little comical, even in these circumstances.

The girl, quickly losing the adrenaline rush once threat of attack was gone, slid down the wall to a seated position on the dank alley floor. The sidekick vigilante only feet away had been watching her as she swayed on her feet and her eyes glazed over, and rushed forward to hold her up when she collapsed.

As he held her in his arms bridal style, he checked her for injuries, but found nothing serious. Her legs were covered in scratches and dirt. He noticed tears in her skirt and a twig in her hair. Her purple hair. She wore a uniform from a nearby private girls school, which was ripped in several places. With how exhausted she seemed, he supposed she probably ran the whole way from the school to the city. All twenty-eight miles through the forest.

Her eyes flickered open and his white mask grew slightly in what looked like shock. Her eyes, though dull from exhaustion, shone a bright violet, matching her hair.

She stared at the hero, making connections slowly through her clouded mind. She mumbled so low that he had to lean in to hear her, "You were the shadow following me."

He nodded. He had, in fact, followed her since she burst out of the trees like a bat out of hell. As a protector of the city he had a duty to ensure that strange figures do not pose a threat. He had quickly decided that she was more threatened than threat, so continued to watch over her. When he saw the three men attack her he had prepared to swoop in and save the day, but instead she turned out to be a meta, to his surprise. However, he believed that she didn't seem to be in complete control of her abilities, otherwise she would not have backed down from the final man.

For a moment he merely looked at the girl. She seemed to be about his age, fifteen. She was petite and very pretty. Her eye color was natural- no contacts- as her hair color seemed to be- no visible roots- and they made her seem mysterious and mystic. He wondered about her powers and how she acquired them. Was she not human, like Superman, or was it the result of some scientific accident, like the Flash?

"Who are you?" he asked.

Her chest rose and fell with slow breathing. Later she would realized that she wouldn't have given her real name had she been entirely lucid. But she would also realize that she knew from the first moment he had picked her up off of the ground that she trusted him. She answered quietly, "Raven."

She's a bird just like him, he thought with a small smile at her. "Where did you come from? Do you have family I can contact?" His voice held worry, for her.

Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally. Thinking of her mother, who had had to deal with her enough over the years, who finally had a chance to live a happy and peaceful life now that she had gone, she said, "I left my boarding school. I have no parents."

He nodded. He didn't have parents either, so he wouldn't pry. "Alright." He started walking out of the alley. "You can stay with me for a while until we figure out what to do with you."


	3. Two:A Robin's Guide to Winning Arguments

Many thanks to Xaphrin. It was a little hard to hear, but your criticism was very well placed, and I feel like I made this chapter much better because of it. So thanks. It's still not very dark and brooding, but I feel like I got more of what I meant them to be into the arguments. I hope this is more to your liking. (ps. more dark and brooding is sure to come)

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><p>Fully Alive: Chapter 2: A Robin's Guide to Winning Arguments<p>

Gotham's young protector swiftly returned to the manor that his secret identity had called home since his parents' death when he was only eight. Robin did not expect the Batman, his guardian Bruce Wayne, to return from patrol for another hour at least. So, without worrying about his mentor's reaction, he carried the still unconscious young girl to a guest bedroom and gently laid her down on the bed.

Tilting his head, Robin paused to observe her. Laying there, dwarfed by the huge guest bed, legs crooked at the knee, hair making a halo of purple around her head, Raven looked so fragile. Yet he had personally seen the damage she was capable of. She threw three full grown men against a wall. She ran almost thirty miles through a forest. That thought made his eyes narrow; what had she been running from so desperately?

With powers like hers, and with as little control as he had seen her use, he could imagine what kind of damage she had the potential to do. He would have to look into the Gotham Preparatory School for Girls and see if anything notable had occurred that could tell him about her. But he just couldn't imagine that she would _want_ to do any damage. From his observations that night, she was proud, brave and intelligent. She fought back when threatened. He did not believe she had it in her to hurt others without reason. If he had believed otherwise, he would have called Batman and let the Justice League take care of her. Untrained metas posed huge threats to the world around them, whether just by setting off accidents in unhindered bursts of power, or their frustration with their drawbacks leading them to lives of crime. So many super villains had become so because they simply lost patience with the world that shunned them for being different, and Robin did not want that for Raven.

Glancing over her he noted once again with concern the numerous scratches on her body. Her knees were crusted with dried blood and dirt. Further abrasions covered her legs. A long scratch threatened to scar her porcelain cheek. She needed to be cleaned up or risk infection.

Pursing his lips in worry, he reluctantly left her to call Alfred, their butler, and grab a first aid kit from the bathroom down the hall. Bruce made sure that the house had well-stocked first aid kits throughout the house- you never knew when you might need a needle and thread or a shot of adrenaline in the superhero business. As he exited the bathroom, Alfred approached, stoic as ever, but worried underneath the facade. Alfred knew from experience that it did not bode well when one of the boys came home early and got out a first aid kit.

"Are you alright, master Dick?" Alfred asked.

Richard 'Dick' Grayson turned to the butler, looking at the grandfatherly man through his mask, and nodded. He raised his arm that didn't hold the kit and gestured to his clean uniform, showing the total lack of injuries he had sustained that night- a pleasant change for him and Alfred, who generally treated their injuries, both- and said, "I'm alright, Alfie."

An eyebrow rose on the face of the man who had practically raised Robin as he noted the slight emphasis on "I." Alfred took a step forward and asked, "Then for whom, if you don't mind my asking, did you retrieve the first aid kit?"

Robin seemed to shrink microscopically under his guilt. When he had brought Raven back to the manor he knew that it would not go over well with his two guardians. But even though he dreaded explaining this to Bruce and Alfred, he found no regret in what he had done. He had valid, sensible reasons for personally protecting this girl, and he would defend them. And her.

"I found a girl on the streets. She ran away from her school, literally ran nearly thirty miles, then almost got mugged. She didn't have any place to stay," Robin said.

"So you brought her here?" He hadn't asked it rudely, but Robin could sense the incredulity in Alfred, as if the Englishman was really saying, 'Didn't we teach you better?'

"She's a meta," Robin stated seriously. Alfred's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "But she doesn't seem to have control over her powers. I thought it would be best to have her here, especially since she collapsed from exhaustion and, possibly, shock. I'm going to clean up some of her wounds. Could you manage to scrounge up some clothes for her to wear? Hers are all torn up, and when she wakes up she will probably want to bathe."

"Of course, sir. What clothing size would you say she is?" Alfred asked. Though he didn't know much about women's clothes, Robin did know quite well how to judge a person's height and weight, so he supplied Alfred with accurate measurements, and they both walked off to task.

Robin reentered the room quietly, afraid of waking her. Upon observation, though, he decided that it would probably take quite a lot to wake Raven at the moment. To his worry, she still had not regained consciousness. She laid on the bed motionlessly, her breaths hardly seeming to exist. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Robin put a hand at her open lips, and to his relief, felt faint breaths pass his fingers.

Starting with her bloody and dirty knees, Robin wiped away the grime with a washcloth soaked in hot water that he had also brought from the bathroom. He gently cleaned off the dirt on all of her wounds, all the while wondering about the girl. Who was she, really? How did she acquire those powers? Could he find someone to train her? What had happened to her parents?

A gentle knock on the door interrupted his reverie after almost an hour. He turned to see Alfred holding a set of women's clothes, just a simple shirt and jeans that Dick thought must have been left behind by Barbara at one time. With a tilt of the head, Robin gestured for Alfred to enter the room. He did so, and set the clothes on the nightstand beside Raven's sleeping head. Turning to leave the room, Alfred leaned down to quietly inform the boy, "Master Bruce has returned home, and wishes to speak with you, sir."

Robin nodded. "Thanks. Did you tell him about, you know, her?" he asked, gesturing towards Raven.

Alfred answered, "I informed him that you had brought home a young lady who needed assistance."

"And what was his response to that?"

"No more than the usual scowl, sir," Alfred assured as he exited the room. Robin nodded again and got up from his seat on the bed. He followed Alfred out the room, and upon entering the hallway was immediately met by a large man dressed as a bat. Not expecting it, Robin jumped.

"Bruce," he breathed, "you scared me."

Batman showed no reaction to the odd nervousness of his young ward, but Dick knew that he most certainly noticed and cataloged it for later scrutiny. Instead, he simply asked, "You brought a girl home?"

The Batman's voice did not betray any emotion; it was not harsh or curious, in fact it was practically a statement, so Robin did not know what to expect from his guardian. "Yeah. She collapsed," Robin answered, keeping his own voice from sounding guilty or defensive. He should have known better than to think Bruce wouldn't lose his temper.

"You brought someone back to the manor while you were in costume? You could blow both our identities doing that! What were you thinking?" Bruce half-shouted. Robin flinched at the sound, half out of guilt from the reprimand, half out of fear that the noise would bother Raven.

Prepared to defend his actions, Robin started in a much lower tone, "You don't understand, she wasn't just-"

He didn't get to finish, as the Batman raised his hand to silence him. "Never mind about that, I'll speak to you more on the subject later. Alfred can take care of her for now; we have work to do. I just heard about a major incident at the girls' prep school outside the city." He noticed Robin stiffen slightly when he mentioned the school, but didn't have the time to wonder about it. "Apparently there was a meta in hiding there; she tore down half a building and ran off earlier today. We have to find her. We're heading over to the school right now to track her down."

Batman turned to head to the bat-cave, but Robin couldn't make his feet move. "Bruce," he practically whispered.

The man didn't hear his sidekick as he thought out loud, "She was last seen in the forest, taking hiking trails that led to the city. After a little over an hour the mob- it was definitely a mob, those people were out for blood, really violent- that was chasing her gave up, but she was definitely headed for Gotham."

"Bruce," Robin sighed, his head swirling in shock, but slowly clearing. Again, he wasn't heard.

"She had purple hair and eyes, which means she won't be difficult to pick out in a crowd, unless she's managed to dye it. That's assuming of course that she made it to the city and went to a store. We could find her on video surveillance if that's the case. Generally speaking, we should expect her to make it to the city either late tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on whether she sleeps in the forest or not. The only way she could have made it here already would be if she had excellent stamina, but even then, I can't imagine a fifteen year old girl would be able to stand on her feet, she would have... collapsed."

Suddenly, he stopped, and spun on his heel to look at his sidekick. Robin's shoulder's slouched seemingly in defeat as he said one last short, resigned, "Bruce."

And it all clicked in the Batman's detective mind. He _had_ trained Robin better than to compromise their identities by bringing someone back to the manor. No wonder he had been jumpy earlier. Dick would never do something so thoughtless unless he had a really good reason. A good reason such as an unconscious meta. His eyes questioned Dick, and the younger of the Dynamic Duo simply nodded in confirmation of the unspoken query.

Batman's feet swiftly carried him back to the door that Robin had exited only minutes earlier. Without knocking, he turned the handle and swung it open. He gasped lightly at the sight before him.

The young, purple-haired girl he had been about to search for was floating a foot above one of his guest beds.

Robin vocalized his shock. "Whoa. She was _not_ doing that before."

The boy passed Batman and entered the room. At her bedside, he looked down at her face, which looked perfectly peaceful, as if she were in a trance. After a moment, he noticed with shock that the cut on her cheek was healing rapidly. Before his eyes it disappeared. Checking her other wounds, he couldn't find any left, except for the nearly gone scrapes on her knees. She was healing herself, he realized. Though her injuries were minor, her exhaustion likely had made healing a necessity.

"Robin."

The command made him turn out of sheer force of habit. If Batman calls, Robin will answer. Life worked that way for 'Batman and Robin.' Sometimes he resented it.

Without another word, Batman turned from the door, and Robin followed him out with one last glance at the floating occupant of the room.

The barrage didn't begin immediately. Batman waited for Robin to shut the guest room door behind him, and then initiated a battle of glares. After several agonizing, tense minutes, Batman broke the silence.

"What were you thinking, Dick?" Bruce asked accusingly.

Dick stood tall, silently telling Bruce that he would not back down. He told his mentor, "She needed help."

"So you brought her here?" Bruce echoed Alfred's earlier question. "We don't know the extent of her powers, or the extent of her morals! She is dangerous."

Dick shook his head, "I don't think she is."

"Dick, she just brought down a building full of people. It's a miracle that she didn't kill anyone."

"I don't think she did it on purpose-"

The Batman practically growled, "That doesn't make any difference, Robin."

"But I don't think she is in full control of her powers."

"That's even worse! Did you think about the danger when you brought a meta into the manor? She has already proven that she could destroy the whole thing with her powers. If she can't control them, then she could kill us at any moment. She can't stay here. You should have called me, so that I or the rest of the League could take care of her."

Robin visibly bristled. "'Take care of her?' What does that mean? Would you have killed her? Or imprisoned her just because she has powers that she hasn't been trained to use? We're supposed to help people!"

Batman crossed his arms, annoyed at the boy's tone. "The League would have handled the situation as it saw fit. But never would JLA members have endangered themselves by bringing a very powerful, undisciplined super-powered teenager into their homes."

Dick scoffed, "Well, I would rather treat her like a human, not a test subject, or worse, a threat to everyone around her. I'm sorry for bringing her here without your permission, but I believe I did the right thing. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if she woke up. I don't want her to come to alone in a strange place."

Really, he should have known Bruce better than that after all of those years.

"Dick, don't you dare walk away from me."

The boy in question turned to his guardian, both still in full costume, and matched the man's glare. An impressive feat, considering who he was looking at. No one out-glares Batman, especially not 'that laughing daredevil' Robin. Not even when Robin had great motivation to do so.

The battle of glares ensued for several passing seconds, and in the end Robin, inevitably, backed down. He looked down at his steel toed shoes, shoulders slumped in defeat. He glanced up from under his eyelashes- despite the mask covering his eyes- only to see Batman still glaring, even post-victory.

"She can't stay here," the Bat said from under the cowl.

"Where do you suggest she go?" asked his partner incredulously.

"I don't know, as long as it's not in this manor. I don't want her finding out our identities."

Dick scoffed, "So rather than telling her our names, you'd put a potentially dangerous, untrained meta on the streets of Gotham City? That's a great plan, Bruce. Just let all the scum in the city find her and possibly get killed when she panics and her powers burst out. Yeah, if we let her do that for a while, we won't have much work to do. Yup, I'll just go drop her down in Crime Alley and let her clean up."

Dick turned to head towards Raven's door, until Bruce said, "Dick, you're being unreasonable. She can't stay here."

Dick pivoted, crossed his arms, and tilted his head. "And why not? She'd be safer here than wandering the streets. We'd have to keep a constant eye on her out there anyway. She'd put people in danger. If she's here, we can watch her more easily, protect the citizens from her, and maybe help her take control of her powers." He sighed and continued, his voice imploring, "We can help her, Bruce. And she needs help."

He walked back down the hall to the door of Raven's room, leaving Batman standing in the same spot. The costumed man shook his head. The boy was right, but he had lost an argument with his sixteen year old son, and that irked him. Sighing, he turned and headed back to the Batcave. They would need to find out more about her if she was going to stay there.

Robin quietly knocked before slipping into the room. Looking towards the bed, he felt his heart fill with fear when he realized she no longer occupied it. From the center of the floor, his eyes scoured the sparsely lit room for half a moment before a quiet voice made him turn.

"Why would you fight over me?"

He finally found her leaning against the wall beside the door. Her hair and clothes were still disheveled, but her wounds had all healed, and her eyes now were sharp, clear and suspicious. When she spoke, her voice sounded detached and emotionless, except for suspicion and distrust. Despite her tone, Robin breathed a sigh of relief. At least he hadn't lost her- Batman would be really mad, then.

"Hi," he smiled at her. "It's good to see you awake. I didn't really have a chance to introduce myself earlier, but I'm-"

She interrupted with impatience, "You're Robin, I know. I do read newspapers, Boy Wonder, and you're in them almost every day."

"Well, it's Teen Wonder these days." His miffed tone made Raven smirk in amusement.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you turn thirteen this year?" she scoffed. Why was he even wasting her time with this?

"Actually I'm sixteen, thank you very much, as of last week."*****

She quipped mockingly, "Shouldn't you be taller, then?" She paused a moment while he practically pouted. Mildly glad she had upset him, she took the moment while his guard was down to repeat, "You never answered my question- why would you fight over me?"

Robin tilted his head. "I took an oath to protect people. Why wouldn't I fight for you?"

"I'm sure Batman took the same oath, but he told you I'm dangerous and shouldn't stay here. He's right," she said, glaring at the painting on the wall beside her as if it had caused all her problems.

Robin stepped forward, closing the large space between them only by a fraction, which still made her look at him with suspicion. He said, "Well, you don't look so dangerous to me." he smiled charmingly.

She, resuming her glaring, though targeting the vigilante this time, quoted, "I am not what I am."******

"Shakespeare, really? You know, I did see your power in the alley earlier. I was rather impressed." He took another step forward.

Turning her head away, she looked guiltily at her now-bare feet as she answered defensively, "What's your point?"

"You can't control your powers can you?"

He received no answer.

"I saw you throw those guys like ten feet. But then you didn't fight the last one. It's because you couldn't make the power come, am I right?"

She remained stubbornly silent.

"Come on, Raven, talk to me," he begged.

"Just leave me alone," she whispered in response.

Shaking his head, he told her, "I can't do that. You're under my care now. I want to help you, but you have to tell me how."

Raven furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes at the persistent boy. "I'll make it easy for you, then. I'm leaving, and none of you will ever have to see me again."

The door was slammed shut even as she began to open it. She looked with surprise at the green-gloved hand that had forced it closed.

"And where were you planning to go?" demanded a suddenly angry and serious sidekick.

Icily she spoke to the door rather than turn to face him, "I don't see how that is any of your business."

"Well I do, so tell me where you thought you were going," he parried in a suddenly light tone that suggested they were discussing ice cream flavors. It made Raven bristle with anger, and an expensive-looking vase shattered on a dresser close by.

"Look bird boy, I don't _care_ that you have a hero complex and feel the need to save everyone. _Go ahead_ and risk your life every night to protect people who don't give a _damn_ about you. But the fact of the matter is that you _cannot help me_," she growled, "so just let me _go!_" She pushed angrily at the hand that kept the door shut, but couldn't make the powerful boy shift, no matter how she pushed and scratched. With a grunt of outrage, she pounded the wood of the door with her fist. A black tendril of her soul-self burst out and slammed into Robin, knocking him to the ground. For a moment she didn't realize what she had done until she heard his grunt of pain.

The blow had knocked all the air out of him. As she turned around he tried to catch his breath.

Eyes wide, she knelt down beside him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I told you I was dangerous." Her eyes narrowed in pain as she looked away from him. "You should have just let me go. I won't stay in the city long. Y ou don't have to worry about watching out for me."

She started to get up, but he grabbed her hand. "I can't let you go," he told her slightly breathlessly. "You're right; you are dangerous. But we can get you help. We can find you someone who can teach you to control your powers."

She looked down at him suspiciously. He sat up, letting go of her hand, and she stood up straight. "What do you really want from me?"

"Nothing. I just want to help. I picked you up off the ground in an alley, so I'm pretty sure you need some."

He watched her take several deep breaths. Considering how she had just lashed out, she seemed much calmer now. Looking down at him, her eyes sadly implored him to leave her alone, but he didn't avert his gaze, simply stared into her eyes, looking for all the world like the most trustworthy teenager alive.

In one last attempt that he knew her heart was not really in, she told him, "You can't help me. No one can."

Neither broke eye contact as he shook his head. "I don't believe that, and I won't until I've tried anything and everything. Please stay. If you have no where else, even if we can't help you, you can stay here."

"I don't believe Batman shared your sentiments."

"He'll get over it; he's just worried you'll destroy the house or kill us, but he's more afraid of what you could do left alone in Gotham. So does that mean you're not saying no anymore?"

His excitement worried Raven. He should not get so attached to her. However, she truly had no where else to go. Might as well take the chance to have a good night's rest, she figured. "You," she hedged, "are not allowing me to say no."

Robin seemed to consider this, getting off the floor and standing close beside her, before conceding, "You're right, I'm not. Well, I should go talk to Batman, calm him down, you know. He's probably still steamed that I walked away from him. Alfie, our butler, brought you some clean clothes, and this room's en suite is right through that door," he pointed. "I figured you'd want a shower after the day you've had. We can talk more about your powers and the incident at the school later."

He started to leave, but as he reached for the doorknob, a pale hand touched his arm, calling his attention back to the violet-eyed girl. She looked into his eyes, seeming a little desperate. It surprised him.

"The school," she whispered, "I really didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. I couldn't... I can't..." She choked, and trailed off.

Robin's hand clasped her own that rested on his arm. He squeezed it softly in reassurance. "I know," he said. "I never believed you did it on purpose."

For the first time since meeting her and saving her, Robin was looked at by Raven with gratitude. In a split second, Robin sensed that Raven had never been accepted by anyone, nor believed by anyone when she told them that she couldn't stop the mysterious events that occurred around her. People had shunned her when they saw her powers. The school had formed an angry mob to chase her that morning, for God's sakes. They made her feel like a monster.

Well, he decided right there as he let go of her and headed to see a moody Batman once again, he would change that.

* * *

><p><strong>*<strong>According to the Nightwing: Year One comics,** Dick's birthday is March 21. I used that to set the story in late March, **but most of you probably didn't know Dick's birthday, especially since it used to be Nov 11, then it changed to late Oct, and now it's March. Oh, DC and their nonsensical continuity...

**** **"I am not what I am" A quote from the duplicitous character Iago, from _Othello_, one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. An excellent read. Anyone interested in real literature (which should be all writers) should definitely read it.

**REVIEW! Review, Favorite, Alert. Just, if you like the story, show appreciation somehow. Love you! Cheers!  
><strong>


	4. Three: Getting Pushed Off the Fence

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Teen Titans, absolutely nothing (NOTHING) could have prevented Wonder Girl and Kid Flash from being regular members on the cartoon team. So obviously DC owns them, not me. Ya dig?**

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><p><em><strong>Fully Alive<strong>_

** Chapter Three: Getting Pushed Off of the Fence**

The door closed with a light click, leaving Raven once again alone in the unfamiliar room. Arms wrapped around herself for warmth and comfort, she dragged her feet back to the bed. Slipping back into sleep sounded so appealing to her at that moment. Her healing trance had been interrupted by the angry emotions the arguing men had emanated, causing her to wake up as a defense mechanism. But even as she moved to lie back down, she realized that she was still wearing a dirty and torn uniform. The crest on the chest of her blazer declared her a student of the Gotham Preparatory School for Girls. Jerkily, she pulled off the stained jacket. It only served as a reminder of what she could destroy.

Robin's presence had stemmed the tide of guilt, but now alone the unhappy truth spat in her face: she couldn't stay there. She had, while attending Gotham Prep, tried and failed to retain enough control on a daily basis to lead a semi-normal life, and not think about her inevitable fate. Now there were people in pain because of her. So many more would be in the future.

She needed to leave this manor, before she repaid Robin's kindness with destruction. Already she had hurt him once. This time not seriously, but her future would bring horrors she couldn't articulate. She would not stick around and get attached to these people only to hurt them.

Placing her dirty hands on her knees, she decided she would leave immediately. She tried to push up off the bed and stand, but realized how exhausted she truly was. And how dirty, she noticed, looking at her hands and touching her hair, matted from sweat and gritty from dirt.

Yes, she would definitely leave. After a shower and a full night's sleep.

On her feet through force of will, she paused a moment to steady herself before heading towards the door of the bathroom that Robin had pointed out. Despite her usual stoicism, Raven was quite impressed by the size of the bathroom in a guest bedroom. How rich are these people? She wondered.

She immediately turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. As she waited, a knock on her door forced her to gather the energy to cross the bedroom again.

She answered the door to an elderly, white-haired, formally dressed man who, upon speaking, proved himself an Englishman. "I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Raven," he said, "but I thought you would like something more comfortable to sleep in, as well as some toiletries."

Raven looked at him blankly for a moment before taking the small pile of clothes and toiletry bag he was offering and half asking, "You must be the butler. Robin called you Alfie?"

The gentleman smiled ruefully and nodded. "The young master does favor that nickname, but I prefer Alfred, if you don't mind, Miss."

"Oh, sorry," she said, face still blank. Her mouth tweaked into a small smile as she offered, "You can just call me Raven."

"If you say so, Miss."

She shrugged at the answer. No point making a fuss. Gesturing to the bundle she held she said as a farewell, "Well, thanks. Sorry to be a bother."

"Not a bother at all. I hope you're happy here, Miss," he responded.

"Oh, yeah, by the way, where is 'here?'" she wondered, half curiously, half suspiciously.

Alfred hedged, "I don't believe I'm the right person to tell you that. You should ask Batman or Robin. Only they should decide to tell you who they really are."

I guess I'll never find out then, she thought. She shrugged again dismissively. Alfred looked at her with an unnerving degree of perception.

"You know, Miss," he started thoughtfully, "I have watched Batman and Robin defeat many enemies throughout these years, but I have never seen them defeat any by running away."

Raven looked at him slightly angrily. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Good night, Miss."

He walked down the hall and out of sight. "Yeah, good night," she answered pointlessly.

Her steps shuffled over the floor's area rug as she slowly returned to the bathroom. The water had long since heated up, and she walked into a cloud of hot steam when she opened the door. She relished the feeling of the humidity on her skin, but left the bathroom door open behind her so it could clear out a bit. She placed the pajamas Alfred had given her on the large sink, and took soap, shampoo and conditioner out of the toiletry bag. Undressing quickly, she entered the shower.

The hot water pounded her skin deliciously, calming her in a way too few things could. She ran her fingers through her hair as the water washed through it. The soothing sensations of the hot water and the balming smell of the lavender shampoo helped her think clearly for the first in what seemed like a very long time.

When she broke the support beams of the school building she hadn't been thinking clearly; when she ran through the forest she hadn't been thinking clearly; when she almost became a victim of a Gotham City mugging she hadn't been thinking clearly; and when she woke up an a strange bedroom to be greeted by a masked sidekick she hadn't been thinking clearly.

Now, as the water poured on her aching muscles she thought. Batman would find out who she was in no time. All he had to do was look in the school records and he would find her mother. She had lied to Robin; she told him she had no parents.

What she meant was that she had no parents that she should associate with. She was giving her mother a chance to be happy when she left. And her father. . .

Snatching a towel from the rack, she stepped out of the shower. She quickly dried off and put on the pajamas. Once dressed, she carefully, deliberately, dried her hair, squeezing out as much water as she could out of the chin-length violet strands. In the mirror, a pale face stared back at her, emotionless, bored. The eyes blinked before the face turned down and away and she walked out into the bedroom. The towel fell from her limp fingers to the floor with a light thump, and the girl didn't bother to pick it up as she crawled into the soft sheets of the guest bed.

Her eyes shut to sleep as she settled on her down pillow. Her last thought was a hope that exhaustion would keep the nightmares away.

* * *

><p>Knock. Knock. Knock.<p>

A repetitive rhythm woke Raven up. With a groan, she rolled out of the bed and stood, eyes still closed. Rubbing her fists into her eyes, she opened them and panicked when she realized she wasn't in her dorm room. Heart pounding in fear, she scoured the room with her eyes to find something familiar.

"Raven, are you awake?" called a male voice from outside the door.

The voice made Raven think of a young boy in a mask and colorful outfit. Robin.

She shook off the last of her memory lag and opened the door to an unfamiliar teenage boy. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the spiky black hair.

"Robin?" she asked.

He thrust out a hand for her to shake. "Call me Dick. Dick Grayson."

She looked at him with confusion. "Why would you tell me that?"

Dick shrugged his green t-shirt-clad shoulders and said jovially, "Well, I don't like wearing a mask in my own home." Raven was bright enough to hear the underlying message; he knew she would find out who they were anyway, since he brought her into their home, but he wanted to set a precedent of honesty between them.

She quirked one eyebrow as she looked at his still-extended hand. Finally, she took it in her smaller hand and shook. Dick's grin expanded. Raven decided he was much too happy.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"I don't usually eat breakfast," she said.

"C'mon, when's the last time you ate?" he pressed.

She thought and said, "Dinner, the day before yesterday, I think."

Dick's eyes went wide. "You must be starving! Come with me." He tried to grab her hand and yank her along, but she calmly pulled her hand back.

"Can I get dressed first?" she asked with measured monotony.

He looked down at her with bed hair, wearing pajamas, looking exactly like she had just rolled out of bed. "Oh, right," he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Sure. I'll wait right here."

She shut the door, hopefully in his face, picked up the jeans and shirt that had been left on the nightstand by someone the night before, and walked into the bathroom.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of her hair. It had still been wet when she had gone to sleep the night before, and now it looked like a bird's nest. Oh, so attractive.

She ran some cold water, then brushed wet fingers through the knots. When she looked decent she searched through the bag Alfred had given her and found a toothbrush and toothpaste. She used them, and dressed quickly.

As she headed to the door to meet Dick again, she slowed. Why was she not leaving? By all accounts, she had decided to leave first thing in the morning. Her stomach growled loudly.

Yes, she would definitely leave. Right after breakfast.

* * *

><p>In the manor's large kitchen, Dick asked her, "Do you like waffles?"<p>

Raven deadpanned, "More than life itself."

"Great!" The chef du jour rubbed his hands together before he pulled out a waffle maker and plugged it in. Then he made a round through the kitchen gathering ingredients, piling them all together in his arms, somehow managing to keep from dropping them all. Raven merely watched, sitting on a stool at the counter, head in her hand, and elbow on the marble counter top. After a minute, she moved to where she saw a tea kettle, filled it with water, and set it to boil.

"So, Raven, where'd you grow up?" Dick asked conversationally.

Raven took several seconds to gauge whether she wanted to answer that. She took long enough that Dick paused his stirring to turn and call her name.

As if she hadn't heard him, she asked, "What?"

"I just asked where you grew up," he told her.

Shrugging, she decided it couldn't hurt any, since the Bat probably found out everything about her by now. "Star City," she sighed.

"Something wrong with Star?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You just didn't sound too enthusiastic about it," he said.

"Nothing's wrong with it, really. I never even went into the city very often."

She hoped her obvious lack of enthusiasm for the subject would dissuade him from pumping for further information, but no such luck.

"Suburbs?" he guessed.

"A little further out, but pretty much." As the water nearly reached a boil she searched for teabags. She found a fairly extensive collection in a cabinet, courtesy of the English butler no doubt. She chose green tea. She tried to change the subject, "What about you, wonder boy? Dick Grayson: Bruce Wayne's ward _and_ Robin? What's your deal?"

It was his turn to look at her with raised eyebrows. She shrugged. "I told you I read the papers. You're mentioned in the business section sometimes alongside your benefactor," she informed him defensively. She filled a mug with water and let a teabag steep a moment.

He smiled, saying, "Well, honestly, I grew up in the circus. My parents were the Flying Graysons. They were quite famous acrobats as circuses went. Then one day, I overheard a Gotham mobster attempting to extort money from Haly, the owner of the circus. Haly refused of course. Next thing I knew my parents were dead and Bruce took me in. He trained me to be Robin, and I've been doing it since." He grinned at her.

"That's quite a story," she observes quietly, taking another sip of her tea.

"Yes, and one I'm not so sure you should share with just anyone," stated a gruff voice from the doorway.

The pair of teens looked up to see Batman watching them with a scowl.

"Did you never get to sleep last night?" Dick asked with a mixture of worry for his mentor and understanding at the man's obsessive nature.

Batman didn't answer him. He just gestured for Raven to follow him. She looked over at her companion, and he nodded to her in reassurance. She slid off the stool and followed the most intimidating man she'd ever met out of the kitchen and into a room that looked like an office- a generic businessman's office. This, she thought, certainly is not the basis of Batman and Robin's operations.

When they were both seated, Batman interrupted the awkward silence by tossing a file onto the desk between them. Raven looked at it with brows furrowed in confusion.

"Raven Roth, fifteen, birthday: December tenth*, born in Star City General Hospital. Father unknown. Maternal grandparents deceased. Grew up in a nunnery outside Star with mother Angela Roth, who spent her childhood moving from foster home to foster home after the death of her parents. Was reported to be involved with a Satanist cult soon before she showed up at the nunnery in the middle of the night, reportedly looking like she had been brutally attacked. Rape kit was positive, but a perpetrator was never apprehended. Last year you received the Wayne Foundation Scholastic Scholarship to Gotham Girls' Preparatory Academy, and began attending as a freshman in September. Yesterday, after you were harassed by some classmates, your metahuman powers of unknown origins lashed out and destroyed the main support beams of the science building. Nine were injured, none fatally. You escaped into Gotham, where Robin saved you from a mugging, and brought you back here."

Raven had been looking through the file as he listed off facts as if they defined her. Everything that could prove who she was and where she had been was in this file. There were copies of her birth certificate, her mother's, her grandparents' death certificates, the records of each foster home her mother had been sent to, eye-witness reports and photographs of her mother experimenting with different religions as a young woman, the police and hospital reports of her mother's rape, Raven's school transcripts, all of her hospital records down to the last blood test, some statements from nuns she had known growing up, the letter of acceptance to GGPA, the letter of congratulations on receiving the Scholarship, eye-witness accounts of her in school, and of the previous day's incident.

Raven could not believe the extent to which he had gone to find out about her. She looked up at Batman.

"I guess now you think you know everything about me, don't you Mr. Wayne?" she asked a bit scathingly.

If the Bat was surprised at her use of his real name, he didn't show it. Instead he said, "Not at all, Raven. I just make it my usual habit to know what I can about people staying in my house."

"Well, sorry to put you through so much trouble then, 'cause I wasn't planning on sticking around," she said.

"Why not? I believe with my resources we could find an appropriate teacher to help you with your powers." His deep voice sounded sincere. He wasn't lying; he would allow her to stay there. But he wasn't asking her to. "And Dick wants you to stay," he added.

"All the more reason I should leave. I can't get attached to people. It's not safe for them." Raven tried to resist the urge to wrap her arms around herself. In front of the Dark Knight she did not want to look pitiful and weak.

"Says who?" he asked.

She looked at him angrily. "Past experience. As you said, I just tore down a school building. Nine people were injured, remember?"

"But don't you think you should see if we can find someone to train you? You could learn to prevent accidents like this." Raven looked about to protest, but he cut her off, "It's your choice, either way."

He stood and walked around her chair towards the door. Raven continued looking straight ahead for half a moment, then turned to him, saying, "Hey, you won't-"

She looked behind her at the empty room. With a slow blink, she realized that she had just gotten the full Batman treatment, and chuckled twice.

Her smile faded and she slumped back in her chair. Were these people crazy or what? They knew what she was capable of, and yet talked to her like staying there was an actual option. Was it? She had thought it was, at the school, but one look at the news covering the story proved her wrong.

* * *

><p>When Raven finally returned to the kitchen, she was greeted by two men eating waffles. Dick looked up at her and gestured to the seat next to him, where there sat a huge waffle.<p>

"What took you so long? Your waffle is going to get cold," Dick told her in an amiable voice. He smiled at her as she sat and he continued to dig in.

Raven looked at the man sitting opposite Dick. With an internal start, she realized that she was looking into the real face of Batman. Or, looking at it from another perspective, she was looking at one of the richest billionaires on the planet, Bruce Wayne. He nodded to her, but didn't smile at her. She supposed that, while he had extended the invitation to her to stay, that he had done it because it was the most logical option at the time, not because he trusted her. In fact, she sensed that the man was still rather angry that Dick had revealed their identities. He was certainly not comfortable with giving such a mysterious person, a stranger even though he knew seemingly everything about her, his biggest, most important secret.

If she were going to stay, Raven might have been worried about finding a way to reassure the paranoid vigilante. But she wasn't, so she decided to ignore it and eat her waffle, which was surprisingly good.

Dick continued asking her questions about herself during breakfast. She answered conservatively. She didn't want to reveal too much of herself to him. She would rather he remain ignorant of her so he could forget her when she left.

Bruce surprised her by not filling his ward in that he knew the answers to many of his questions. She was grateful to him for that.

Dick avoided the topic of her parents as if he knew it were a sensitive subject. Then Raven remembered that she had told Robin that she had no parents, and he had evidently taken it literally. She felt bad for lying about it, but would rather leave it at that than explain.

Raven avoided several pointed questions about her powers, to the apparent displeasure of both detectives, but managed to distract Dick from the subject by mentioning that she grew up in a nunnery, which for some reason he found fascinating. She filled the conversation, as well as she could in her short-answered way, with some talk about that and GGPA.

At one point, Dick asked, "Are your hair and eyes really that color?"

She looked up from her almost gone second waffle with surprise. Shrugging, she supposed she should have expected that question, since she had gotten it from almost everyone she had ever met. "Yeah, it's natural," she answered simply.

"How interesting. Could it be heredity, I wonder? I've never seen anything like it before," he said with curiosity looking at her irises. Raven raised one eyebrow, shrugged, and looked away. She picked up her finished plate and brought it over to the sink. Putting it under the tap and running water, she looked for soap and a sponge. Never a slob, she didn't want to leave a mess behind her when she left.

As if he were summoned, Alfred appeared at the kitchen to relieve her of the effort. "I'll take care of that, Miss."

"Oh, um, OK." Raven placed the plate, cup and silverware down and took a step back so he could reach the sink. "Thanks, Alfred."

Dick walked over and said "Oh, so you've met Alfie? Great," he smiled. Raven could just barely see the butler roll his eyes at the nickname. She suppressed a grin with surprising success.

"Yeah, I've met Alfred," she agreed. Feeling uncomfortable in the room with the three, Raven said, "Thanks for breakfast. I'll be in the guest room, if you'll excuse me."

"It's your room now, you know," Dick said. Raven looked at him, smiling at her, Bruce, reading with a serious expression a newspaper that featured yet another Arkham Asylum breakout on the front page, and Alfred, calmly drying a dish. None of them contradicted Dick's claim. They would really let her stay.

It terrified her.

She nodded swiftly and booked it to 'her' room.

Standing in there she realized she had nothing to pack or take with her except her dirty uniform. She pulled on her high tops and grabbed what was left of the outfit from the hamper in which it had been left. She would throw it in a dumpster before leaving the city limits.

Where would she go?

What an excellent question. She sat on the bed to ponder it. While musing over the pros and cons of staying in the country, Raven realized that the bed had been made. Probably by Alfred. He had also tidied the room. A fresh towel in the bathroom, all the toiletries he had given her in their proper places. As if he tried to make it into her room.

His words echoed in her mind. 'I have never seen them defeat any by running away.'

Well, it's not like she was facing the Joker here. She couldn't fight this. This was a problem without a solution.

'You are dangerous. But we can get you help. We can find you someone who can teach you to control your powers.'

Yeah, right. Like it's that easy to find someone who understands demon powers.

Still, if anyone could find her a teacher, her best odds would be with someone from the Justice League.

'I have never seen them defeat any by running away.'

Raven looked down at her shoes, muddy from her escape through the forest.

She _was_ running away. She had _always_ run away. She ran away from human contact her entire childhood. She ran away from her mother to come to Gotham. And now she was about to run away from the first person to believe in her and selflessly offer to help her that she had ever met.

Slowly, deliberately, regretting the decision already, Raven took off her running shoes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I wasn't even going to write this chapter, but I realized that deciding to stay would be a big ordeal for Raven.**

***I have never found Raven's birthday explicitly stated anywhere. So I just made it up. If anyone does know when her birthday is... Eh, Let me know, but I probably won't change it. Dec 10 works in the timeline of the story.  
><strong>

**Oh, hey, with this chapter, I've publish 100k words on this sight. Compared to a lot of authors, that ain't much, but it's a sort of checkpoint to me.  
><strong>

**Review, please. Cheers  
><strong>


	5. Four: The First Step to Recovery is

A/N: EDIT: 6/30/12: Edited the fight scene. Not much, result is the same. Also, I apologize about how long the update is taking. Life, you know.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or locations of the Teen Titans or Batman.  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>Fully Alive<strong>_

** Chapter Four: The First Step to Recovery is Admitting You Have a Problem**

Robin perched solidly on a heavy wood rafter, hunched to keep his head from hitting the abandoned building's cieling, completely hidden in the shadows despite the brightness of his uniform, watching his prey. His mentor perched two feet to his left, equally serious, equally focused, equally hidden.

Nine feet below the beam that held them, recent Arkham Asylum escapee Dr. Pamela Isely, popularly known as the villian Poison Ivy, bent over a table of plants and chemicals, herself highly focused on her work with a precision that belied her insanity plea.

They had been observing her movements for over half an hour, and although he would never disobey a direct order, Robin itched to take action. True to his training, though, he did not complain, or even fidget in his position.

Suddenly, as Ivy stepped back from the table to check on a plant on the other side of the room, Batman raised his fist, catching Robin's attention. Batman counted off three fingers, knowing that although Robin did not turn or in any way acknowledge the signal, he noticed and would follow the silent order. Sure enough, when his black-gloved hand pointed forward, both the Batman and his sidekick jumped down on either side of the red head.

"Hello, Ivy. I see you've taken another break from life at Arkham," Batman greeted the villainess.

Shocked but not slow, Ivy aimed her right forearm, equipped with a small yet lethal crossbow at Batman before her, saying, "Yes, I found Arkham very restricting. I needed some fresh air to grow." Meanwhile she searched her person for a vial of whatever poison she could find.

The search took her too long, and while both her hands were occupied and her aim was on the Batman, Robin moved forward to strike, saying, "Ivy, weeds like you can grow anywhere."

As he closed in on Ivy he ducked, narrowly avoiding a green boot to the head as she spun to kick him. She heard, "Not your best line, Robin," from behind and realized that defending herself from Robin a mistake that left her back exposed to the greater threat.

Before she could open the vial she had finally found, Batman grabbed the wrist that held it and twisted, letting it fall harmlessly to the ground. In half a second he had also grabbed the other wrist, the one with the crossbow, and subdued her completely. As he restrained the struggling villian by the wrists, he gruffly ordered Robin, "Check out what she's been doing. Take samples."

Robin immediately did as he was told, taking samples of all of the plants and chemicals on Ivy's laboratory table. He had to admit, Dr. Isely was an incredibly intelligent woman. If Poison Ivy chose to waste talent on obsessive fanaticism and whatever other loose screws always put her back in Arkham instead of Blackgate Prison, well, that was her loss, and more work for him and Batman. Thinking of the weeklong investigation that had lead them to Ivy's hideout, Robin shook his head, wondering what the police would do with these 'super villians' if 'super heroes' weren't around. With a sigh, he took one last leaf off of a scary looking vine and put it in a vial, backing away from the table to turn to his mentor.

And felt glass crush under his foot.

It wasn't his fault really. He was following orders and one of Ivy's roots had peeked up from the dirt floor and gently nudged the dropped vial into his foot path when his back was turned. He hadn't done anything wrong to cause the situation.

But that did not change the fact that because he had stepped on the forgotten vial of poison, some unknown gas was starting to surround him.

Of course, training with the Bat and working in Gotham City lent more than a little presence of mind to the Teen Wonder, who had a gas mask on in three seconds flat. One second too slow, and one breath of poison gas entered his lungs.

Not immediately feeling the effects, he ignored the threat for the time being and turned to his partner. In a moment of worry when the gas had started to surround the boy, Batman had called out, "Robin," in worry. The moment of hesitation allowed his grip to loosen minimally, but Ivy used that for all it was worth. She yanked and pulled and kicked and scratched and bit and clawed her way out of Batman's grip, screaming that "You won't get me tonight," and once her right hand was free she shot him in the arm with her crossbow. It only grazed his bicep and he did not react in pain, though it must have hurt.

Ivy started fleeing the Dark Knight's vicinity, fearful of what could happen if he got his hands around her again. Focused on escaping with one eye on the pursuing vigilante, she didn't see a flash of red and green football tackle her from the side until it hit her. RObin pinned her to the ground, trying to push down her shoulders as she resisted. Suddenly, his ankle was in a vice and he was pulled away from the red-head. A quick study showed him that a vine had done the damage, but he violently hacked it off of him with the razor-sharp blade of a batarang and it retreated like a wounded puppy.

He spun his attention back to the fight to find Batman offering him a hand up. Confused, he took it. On his feet, he looked up into his mentor's eyes in question, to which the Batman replied, "Her vines baracaded me as she made her escape. But don't worry. We'll find her again. Villains are always sloppier with their second lair; she doesn't have as much time to find it and set up, and she'll need to set up her supplies from scratch, since we'll be disposing of this," he finished reassuringly, nodding to Ivy's work.

Robin knew what Batman was doing; he was reassuring him after he had botched a mission, and suddenly Robin felt ten years old again, on one of his first campaigns against a real rogue, and failing time and again. At sixteen, he didn't want to feel like a kid holding back the Big Bad Bat.

"Yeah, right," he responded, and continued to beat himself up inside.

Even through the domino mask, a father knows when his son is brooding, so Bruce put a gloved hand on Dick's shoulder and intoned, "Every mission has unexpected turns. You know that. You also now that the important thing for us to do is to deal with it and adapt. You did that."

Robin looked up at Batman with unchanged eyes, so he continued, "We got Ivy's research, we scared her out of her base, and she knows we're on her tail. I never expect that we'll capture a villain the first time, do you?" Robin shook his head honestly, starting to feel better with his mentor's reality check. "Good, you're being realistic. So even if we didn't get Ivy back to Arkham tonight, this portion of our mission went as smoothly as expected. So let's head back to the cave; I might need a few stitches, and I want to make sure that gas you inhaled isn't slowly killing you." Robin nodded again, then paused in thought.

"Yeah, about that gas," Robin started, putting a hand to his chest and coughing slightly, "I feel a bit weird."

Batman looked alarmed, moving quickly to check his partner's temperature. Robin looked up at him with eyes slightly unfocused. "Hey, Batman," Robin whispered a little too close to Batman's ear than the vigilane would have preferred, "Has anyone ever told you how good looking you are?"

Batman shoved Robin back immediately away from him, looking him in the face for a long moment, while Robin stared right back with a suggestive smirk on his face. Until, of course, Robin's acting broke off and the boy began laughing hysterically, pointing at Batman's shocked and uncomfortable face. The prank seemed so funny to him, but obviously not to Batman, whose angry and serious visage redoubled Robin's laughter just as he seemed to be getting it under control.

Finally managing to stand up straight, laughter calmed to sporadic chuckles, Robin wiped a tear from his eye and caught up with the caped crusader, who had started walking angrily back to the Batmobile ahead of him.

"I'm sorry," he claimed unbelievably, considering the amusement still in his tone, "But your face was just priceless. You seriously thought I was going to jump you or something."

Batman tensely settled into the driver's seat of the Batmobile as Robin sat on the passenger's side. The drive was silent most of the way. As the car started moving towards the secret entrance to the Batcave, and home, Robin asked, "Hey, how do you think Raven would react if I did that to her?"

"Don't." The firm command was the most Robin had gotten out of Batman the whole drive, so he asked, "Why not?"

"Because that girl's emotions cause buildings to collapse, and you should not start toying with them. Now or ever. It's sad to say, but she will probably never be able to have a romantic relationship, and although your intentions may be only to make her laugh, or to make yourself laugh, she can't have any past experience with boys, and you should not confuse her," the Dark Knight lectured in the same tone he used to discuss villains- serious and uncompromising and unquestionable.

Robin started, "I hadn't even thought about-"

"I know," Batman interrupted. "You shouldn't dwell on it. Just don't," here Batman sighed in worry, "Just don't do anything stupid like become romantically involved with a girl who can destroy buildings when she's upset. You'd never survive an argument."

Robin felt like the last comment was meant to be funny, in a tongue-in-cheek way, but he couldn't help but feel more of the severity of the statement for it's intended humor. He had never intended to be anything more than friends, Hell, even family with Raven. But Batman's comment reminded him that they were two people of opposing genders, of the same age group, sharing a good deal of common ground, trusting in each other when neither were used to trusting many others. From what he had seen in his short life, in real experience, books, and movies, such circumstances often led to romantic entanglements, and Robin knew that his guardian was right. They couldn't afford that. It couldn't happen.

Not that the revelation particularly upset him. But he did feel odd thinking that a range of emotions in a particular area were off limits. He had never felt a need to control his emotions, prevent them from manifesting, or stop them from showing clearly. He wondered if this unnatural restraint was what Raven had to force herself to hold every day, and suddenly he sympathised much more with how much of a struggle her powers were. And suddenly, he wanted to talk to her and tell her that, and tell her that they would find her a teacher, no matter what it took.

As the ride ended in silence, Robin felt Batman look at him in concern. He knew Batman hadn't wanted him to take the comments so seriously, and most certainly did not intend to start a full-on brood-session. So Robin grinned as him and hopped out of the Batmobile with a double backflip, a silent sign to his mentor that nothing was wrong and he was just as cheerful as usual.

Robin cleaned the crossbow wound on Batman's arm, decided it was shallow enough to not need stitches, and wrapped the wound tightly yet confortably enough for movement (read: fighting). In turn, Batman gave Robin a quick scan for toxins, but found that Robin had long since been inoculated against the common poison that Ivy had used, and therefore had suffered and would suffer no ill effects. Once so assured of their health, the Duo set to work testing the samples from Ivy's lab.

This was the part that bored Robin. He loved detective work, but no love for results could make a computer's 'scanning' screen more interesting. It was like watching paint dry. Enter a plant leaf, wait approximately seven minutes to get the entire genetic makeup, all areas of natural growth, all known uses, all legal and illegal sellers of the plant if it so happened to be a tradable material, any recent news concerning the plant or the areas in which it grew or the ways in which it could be used, and absolutely anything else the computer could think of to tell them and print out on a long strip of fax paper. The computer may have been Wayne Enterprises' best and fastest, but with so many samples to test, it added up to a lot of boring waiting with nothing to do except wonder what Poison Ivy was up to this time.

For these reasons of extreme boredom and impatience, Robin was, in a vague way, a bit grateful to hear Raven screaming bloody murder from three floors up.

Raven woke up screaming. The high-pitched sound of pure terror echoing down the hallway of the manor could make blood run cold. Her throat finally became raw, and the scream rasped to a stop, and she started panting, falling back on her sweaty sheets to catch her breath for a moment.

After a brief repose, she swung her legs over the edge of the guest bed she occupied and rested her bare feet on the cool hard wood of the bedroom floor. She focused on the chilling sensation, as well as the feel of the soft cotton sheets in her clenched fists. With deep breaths through her nose she managed to slow her pulse to a normal speed.

Of course it had been too much to hope for a week without nightmares. There had been a few dizzying, yet comfortable days free of the horrid visions after she decided to stay in Wayne Manor, but her father would never leave her alone for a whole week together. The nightmares were often fuzzy as she tried to banish the images, tried to convince herself that they were figments of her imagination dredged up by fear, but the booming voice he used to plague her sounded so real, so resonating, it seemed to shake her soul. The fear was paralyzing; she was immobile in her bed while her mind was tormented.

He told her what little she knew about her powers. Still, she tried not to believe what he said; she could not trust his word. He seemed to want her to be comfortable, familiar with her powers. Raven could not ever imagine that her 'gift,' as he called it, could feel like a part of her. They felt foreign, like a transplanted arm.

Drenched in a cold sweat, she shivered. Nearby sat a knee-length robe, so she pulled it on over her tank-top and pajama pants, all of which Alfred had inconspicuously placed in her closet a few days ago, along with several other sets of clothing.

She hoped Alfred hadn't heard her scream. It could have given the grandfatherly man a heart attack.

However, she could sense that he was asleep. The constant awareness of others' emotions could not be shut off. Try as she might, Raven could never figure out how to supress that sixth sense. As long as she was not on an emotional rampage, or completely exhausted, she could sense the emotions of everyone around her. When she tried not to be disgusted with her entire existence, she used the sense to her advantage. Now she could feel the peace of Alfred's sleeping subconscious, vague against the worry and urgency of Robin, whom she could feel approaching, and the muddled worry, frustration, and determination of the Dark Knight, several floors below.

Raven ran a few fingers through her sweaty hair so it wasn't so matted down and followed Dick's progress. She sighed. He was going to wonder what had happened. What could she tell him to reassure him without leading to more questions? Nothing, she thought. The boy wouldn't stop without answers.

Still unsure of how to proceed, she heard the rap on her door. "Raven," he called through the door with an urgent voice, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she called.

"Can I come in?"

Refusing would only raise his suspicion. "Sure."

The door opened swiftly and his unmasked eyes turned immediately to her sitting on the bed. He took in her sweaty brow, her tangled sheets, and the marks on the sheets where she had clenched her fists. "What happened?" he asked, stepping forward slowly.

"Nothing. I just had a nightmare." Maybe she could get away with just half-truths.

"Must have been some dream," he subtly pressed for more information. He sat next to her on the bed.

She shrugged. It was none of his business.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She gave him a withering look. He held up his hands inoffensively. For a minute they sat in silence, until he broached the subject again, in a more personal way. "You know, after my parents died, I had nightmares for a long time. And, with Bruce as my guardian? Well, I didn't think he would want me crawling into his bed at two AM." Dick's eyes softened in rememberance, and watching him, Raven didn't mind as much that he was pushing her to reveal her secrets.

"Anyway," he continued, "I had nightmares for a good couple months, even after I had started training as Robin- I always saw my parents falling from the trapeze, just remembering the day they died. That was horrible enough for a kid who was still reeling from his parents' murder. I always woke up a second before they hit the ground, and I woke up reaching out to catch them," his voice way trembling, Raven noticed. "Then one night, I didn't wake up, and I watched them hit the ground, and I heard the- the impact, and when I went down to their bodies, my mother's bloody hand grabbed me, and she asked, 'Did you forget to check the wires again?' and then my dad asked, 'Why didn't you catch us?'"

Dick took a deep breath to calm himself, and Raven surprised him by placing a calm hand on his. He managed to smile warmly at her, and was able to continue his story. "I woke up screaming and crying, and Bruce came in. He held me," Raven raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know, who would've thought he had it in him? I told him about the nightmares, and he told me about the nightmares he still has about his parents. He told me that I should have come to him if I was having nightmares. After that, they slowed down, but whenever I had one, I went and talked to Bruce about it. It helped a lot."

He flipped his hand over to hold hers warmly. "You can talk to me, you know. What could go wrong with telling me? Why are you so afraid to trust us?"

Raven's expression changed from calm to affronted in no time flat. "I am not afraid. I don't do fear."

"So why not talk to me?"

She looked at him expressionlessly. "I've learned that if people are willing to be kind, or even civil to me, it is best not to tell them the truth. It scares them."

"I'm a big boy. I'm pretty hard to scare, you know."

"You think so, do you?" she asked condescendingly.

"Hey, you're looking at a guy who has stood in front of the Joker and punched him in the eye. I'd say that's pretty damn scary, so try me. What was your nightmare about?" he challenged.

Raven looked at the costumed boy disbelievingly. He was so obviously trying to goad her, to trick her into telling him by comparing her greatest fear to a homicidal clown. She had to admit, though, her pride rose to the challenge, and he succeeded.

"My nightmare, if you must know," she answered him in a clipped tone, "was about my father." She said the word as if were a nasty bit of something on the bottom of her shoe.

Blue eyes narrowed in confusion. "Your parents are dead, aren't they?"

Raven sighed and admitted, "No, not exactly."

Dick nodded, prompting her to continue. She did so, mostly out of guilt for lying to him. "When I told you I have no parents, maybe it would have been better to say that I have no parents that I should be associating with. My mother is alive. My father is... a long story."

"I have time," Dick offered.

"I don't think so. By the way Batman is brooding downstairs, I'd say he's waiting for you," Raven countered.

Impatiently, Dick whipped his communicator out of his belt, pressed a button and said into it, "Batman, I think you should start without me. This may take a while."

"'This' being?" Batman's voice responded clearly through the device.

"Raven has a 'long story' to tell me about her parents."

Raven knew that the boy beside her somehow had communicated something to his guardian with just the tone of his voice, but didn't know what as she sensed Batman below choose between finding more about her or Poison Ivy. After a moment, his voice confirmed his decision.

"Fine. Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's alright, don't worry Bruce. I'll be down later. Robin out."

He turned back to Raven as he stowed the communicator back in his belt. "Now will you tell me?"

Raven thought for a moment. Did she really want to tell this boy what she had never told anyone except her mother? While she decided, he waited patiently, looking at her with a steadfast gaze. God, why did he have to look like the most trustworthy boy in the world?

"Wait," Dick suddenly said, "How did you know Bruce was brooding?"

Raven made a split second decision. She rarely made those, but she had always wanted to unburden herself, trust in someone and tell them everything that made her life almost unbearable. She couldn't with her mother- she knew Angela had her own pain and she didn't want to add to it. But Dick was sitting next to her, willing to listen, after he had seen the damage her powers could do, after they had accidentally attacked him, after she had been so very cold to him. He was still sitting there, willing to listen.

"I can sense emotions," she answered without skipping a beat. Dick was shocked by her answer- not so much that she had such a power, but just that she had answered at all.

"What do you mean, do you like read auras or something?" he wondered.

She shook her head. "No, it's a sense. Just like you can see, hear, or smell me sitting here, I can sense your curiousity, your underlying concern and care. I can sense Bruce's determination and focus clear as day through three floors. It's one of the powers given to me by my father." Again she spat the word.

"Your father, the one with the long story?" he pressed, though not so much to make her pull back.

Raven, for the umteenth time that night, sighed. "His story isn't too long, but to explain to you my origins, my powers, and my, eh, personality... That story is long."

She shifted and moved to sit with her back against a pillow at the head of the bed, supported by the wood headboard. She patted the spot beside her. "We might as well get comfortable, because when I say it's a long story, I mean it's a long story."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Next chapter will begin the divulging of Raven's story. That will take a chapter or two. After that we will get some more plot movement, some more crime-fighting, other such fun stuff. The next chapter won't take so long, I hope!

**Review with your thoughts!**


	6. Five: Checking Baggage

Disclaimer: Characters and locations are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane (and Bill Finger, does anyone ever remember him? He did most of the work).

A/N: Regarding the chapter title: you know when you're checking in at an airport and you hand over your luggage to someone else? I thought it was a rather clever metaphor for all the confiding that's about to go down.

P.S., Sorry it took so long.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fully Alive<strong>_

**Chapter Five: Checking Baggage**

Robin's hand tapped an excited rhythm on his thigh of its own volition. He had waited a week for Raven to open up, a week since he had half-carried the exhausted girl out of a gritty Gotham alley, and to a sixteen year old detective that felt like ages.

They sat together on Raven's bed, leaning back on her headboard, sitting in for a long night of divulging. Robin's hand continued its tapping.

A pale grey hand reached over and covered Robin's green-gloved one. Raven treated her companion to a withering look. His rhythm stopped.

Raven dropped the look, and calmly asked, "Do you want me to start with my father or mother?"

"Chronologically would work fine," he replied easily.

Raven nodded. "Well, that makes it simple, since my father is millenia old."

Before Robin could question that bombshell, Raven took a deep breath, preparing to launch into the fantasy-horror story that made her life.

"Do you believe in Hell?" she asked without prompt.

"Um," Robin stuttered, thrown off by the question. "I guess so. I mean, I live in Gotham," he joked. Raven ignored his effort as humor.

"Well, it exists. The real deal, another dimension for the dead, with fire and damned spirits and... demons," she hesitated a minute, before pushing through the lump on her throat and pumping out information like a computer. "Demons are very hierarchical, you see. So naturally, the more powerful become rulers. There is no single Devil ruling hell, there are dozens of omni-powerful demon lords, each with their own domain of influence and particular preferences for torture."

She gulped. "There's one such demon more powerful than most. He's toppled dimensions, killed and tortured billions of people of every race on every planet in every dimension he had access to, for no other reason than that he could. The only emotions he feels are rage and hatred. His only pleasure is in destruction. Even you might have heard of him. On Earth he is worshiped by certain Satanist sects as 'Scath' but his true name is Trigon the Terrible."

Robin did not have to sift through the encyclopedia of knowledge Bruce had forced him to learn for the name. Raven was right when she said he might know it: everyone and anyone who battles against evil has heard of Trigon the Terrible. People said it with shivers in their spines and fear in their eyes.

"You can't mean what I think you do," Robin denied nervously.

Raven's legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. From her shivering fetal position, she nodded.

"Trigon the Terrible is your father?" he asked.

Raven swung her head to look at the boy next to her. Her eyes looked dead and hopeless. That said it all.

Shocked immobile, it crossed his mind for the briefest of moments that he may have made a mistake in bringing Raven here. Yet, as he noticed her shivering the thought fled. Immediately guilty, he picked up a blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around Raven comfortingly. Clothes still damp from the cold sweat of her nightmare, Raven gratefully pulled it around herself. Information absorbed, doubts assuaged, and shock swallowed, Robin moved on to the rest of the story.

"How did your mother get involved with him?" he asked.

"My mother, Angela Roth, was the daughter of two loving parents. She grew up in Star City in an upper-middle class area, fairly happily. But... Fate is unkind, and her happy family got shattered. It was a car accident. And Angela never got over losing them, especially when, since she had no capable or willing relatives, she got shoved into the foster care system.

"She got passed around from foster home to foster home. They were all abusive. She said one was very nice, actually, but they got busted for dealing. The point is, Angela lost her family, and tried to replace it with these foster families. She craved love, but she received neglect and dismissal instead. The shock of being unloved for the first time broke her worse than losing her parents."

Raven paused for a moment and looked at Robin. He smiled encouragingly, but she could see his eyes were someplace else: the loss of his own parents, most likely, and the lonely time when Bruce was trying to figure out how to treat a child, leaving the grieving young boy alone and without comfort. Robin could relate to how Angela felt. He couldn't imagine how he would have survived if Bruce hadn't made him his partner, giving him purpose and joy in his life again.

Once again, Raven took the boy's hand. He grabbed hers tightly. He felt bad that she felt the need to comfort him, when she was the one confessing her history, clearly in need of comfort. He waited for her to continue, refocused.

Raven recalled where she had paused and cleared her throat. "Once she got a degree of independence... Around fifteen she started avoiding her foster home. She went into the city, trying to find _something_ to fill the void. She hung out with some questionable people. Partied a lot. Drank a lot. When that failed to make her feel better she tried looking for answers from religion.

"She started with Catholicism, because that's what she remembered har parents practising, but the church she went to was run by an asshole of a priest who didn't listen or help her. I think she tried Islam, but the foster family she lived with smacked her and called her a terrorist. She tried others, but none of them 'spoke to her,' as she says: Buddism was too peaceful, Hinduism was too vegetarian, Mormons didn't eat chocolate." Raven absent-mindedly shook her head. "So, at around seventeen, she delved into less frequented parts of the city, and started researching things like Paganism and Wica and Satanism. She was approached by a group that promised her the 'answers.'"

Raven gritted her teeth. "They... invited her to a few _gatherings_, told her pretty stories about their beliefs, and glorified Trigon incessantly. The cult treated her kindly, and so desperate for affection, Angela fell for their whole charade. She spent a few months being 'inducted' and getting so brainwashed that she ignored the signs of their more_ sinister_ activities. Her foster parents didn't care when she disappeared for days at a time.

"Angela didn't know that the cult had chosen and approached her specifically for a purpose. Trigon had been barred in his own dimension, though I'm not sure how. The cult was working on releasing Trigon, and for that, they needed a woman for him, to be his_ bride_." Raven spat the word, eyes welling with tears of anger.

Robin was beginning to see where this story ended. He almost didn't want to hear it, but the words spilled out of Raven with a ferocity that suggested how desperately she had wanted to confide in someone.

"She left a note to her last foster family, telling them that she was leaving. They never reported her missing. She followed the cult into the middle of the Star City forest in the middle of the night. They drew a circle of runes and put her in it. At dawn they started chanting, and my mother, my stupid, vulnerable mother had never felt so happy, or so accepted. They chanted the entire day, and at sunset, Trigon was able to enter this plane long enough to..."

Raven's breath started coming in thick gulps, but she tried again, "Everyone she thought was her friend all looked as twisted and evil as they were, and she got scared, and the sky was blood red, and so was he." Raven sobbed, "He wasn't beautiful like they said he'd be, and he laughed pure evil, and then he..." She couldn't continue, her tears halted her outburst.

She cried from the pain her mother had passed onto her when she had told her the story, she cried from her own pain of being made by such evil and pain. She cried from hopelessness in the face of her father, she cried because she had to admit that she was the daughter of evil. She cried because she could never be part of a loving family. She cried because she couldn't control any of it, and when the furniture started breaking because of her wild powers, she cried even harder.

All Robin could do was hold his new friend tightly, his grip reassuring and unwavering. He couldn't tell her how sorry he was, because even though what she had told him was horrible, he felt glad that that story ended with her. He cherished his friends, and even if they had met only recently, her divulging her past to him made her one of his dearest. So he just held her as she cried out her pain and frustrations.

Waves of tears like Raven had never cried poured onto Robin's shirt. The deluge didn't stop until Raven ran dry. Eventually, even someone with everything to cry about runs out of energy to cry, and throw furniture with telekinetic powers.

As she slowly sat up, she felt too ashamed to look Robin in the eye. After such a horrifying confession and an embarrassing display of emotions and uncontrolled powers, she felt unworthy of his trust or friendship. Robin sensed her hesitation, even without empathic powers. He grabbed her by the chin and stared her right in her purple eyes.

With all the sincerity and kindness he could muster, he said, "Raven, thank you for telling me that. I'm so sorry that this has hurt you so much. But I'll always be here for you, for support and friendship. You don't need to worry about being alone with your pain anymore."

If she could have mustered one more tear, Raven would have started crying all over again. As she was, her whole body shifted. She looked lighter, her shoulders not so tense, and her lips not scowling. She put her arms around Robin's neck and hugged him again. Usually not fond of prolonged contact, Raven took unique comfort in her friend's hold.

She had a friend. Someone who knew what she was, and cared about her and her feelings all the same. Her world looked so much brighter with a friend to survive it with.

"Thank you so much," she whispered. He didn't answer with words. He didn't have to.

When she finally sat up, less troubled than he'd ever seen her, she said, "I'm ready to finish the story now."

"Wait, wasn't that the end?" Robin asked blankly.

Raven shook her head once. "I still have to tell you about the pregnancy, and how my powers developed, and how horrible they made my mother's life," she told him.

"Oh. Well, in that case, why don't we wait a few minutes so you can shower and change. I'm afraid you'll get sick wearing those wet pajamas much longer," he said.

"You've been hanging out with Alfred too much, you're nagging like an old man," she accused. "But a shower would be nice," she admitted. "I'll be out in ten minutes."

She grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom without another word.

Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Robin looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. That story was intense enough to swallow, but that was just the beginning? He decided to check in with Batman quickly, before his mentor got impatient. And he needed to change out of his tear-stained shirt.

* * *

><p>Dressed in civvies, Dick took the stairs down to the Batcave. He took them two at a time, the way he always did, despite his considerably fuller head. He found his mentor still parked in front of the computer, a thoughtful frown on his face. As Dick's quickstep stopped just behind him, Bruce, cowl laying down his back like a hood, turned to face his young ward.<p>

"Is your business finished with Raven?" he asked evenly.

Dick could tell that deep down Bruce really cared for Raven's well-being, or at least he would come to care very soon. But at the moment, Bruce was still in crime-fighting mode, and he wanted his partner to help him solve a problem.

"No," Dick answered, leaning casually against the computer, "But she was in a state, so she's gone to take a shower before she tells me the rest of her story."

"Is that what all that crashing and banging was a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah, she was crying, powers went off the walls, with the furniture. Can't blame her," Dick said. Bruce easily picked up on Dick's worry.

"This was about her parents?" Bruce remembered, prodding for answers.

Dick nodded, but said, "Yeah, but I'm not going to tell you. That's up to her. I just barely got her to confide in me, no way am I abusing her trust like that."

Bruce turned back to the computer screen. "I don't think she trusts me," he admitted.

Dick snorted. "Of course she doesn't. She doesn't trust anybody."

"Except you," Bruce countered with a small smile.

Dick raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, it took some hard work, and she's only barely letting her guard down. But c'mon, this is me, the guy who saved her in an alley, gave her a place to stay, and faithfully believed that she didn't topple that school building on purpose. If she was going to trust _anyone_, it was going to be me. Not the Caped Crusader."

"Don't call me that," Bruce growled. "Though I suppose you have fair point. But what did you come down for anyway? You have more story to hear, I believe."

Dick shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to let you know how it was going, and see how far you were in your research."

Bruce smirked. "You were curious about Poison Ivy's work and couldn't wait," he guessed. Dick looked away, and Bruce chuckled. "Well, I've got the information on all the plants she had on her work table. The computer is trying to figure out what kinds of compounds they could make when combined, but it's just shooting blind. We can't really know what Ivy's making without asking Ivy."

"And you do so love interrogations," Dick joked.

"They're my specialty," he agreed in the same tone. "But that means we have to start our search for her all over again, and that's the part I need you back for. So, when you're finished with Raven-"

"Back into uniform, gotcha," Dick nodded. "Well, I'll just get back to it then. Later," he called over his shoulder as he waved goodbye. Bruce, already back to his work, didn't reply.

* * *

><p>Dick's knock on Raven's door was answered by a quiet, "Come in." When he opened the door, he found the girl sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, wearing clean pajamas and carefully drying her hair with a towel. While wet her purple locks had waves in them, but Dick knew that they would dry pin-straight.<p>

She had never looked as vulnerable to him. Face pointed down, hair wet, pajamas loose over her thin frame, Raven incited all his protective instincts, despite the fact that most people would think he needed protection from her. If they knew her secrets, that is.

He walked over to the bed with a smile a retook his place seated on her bed. When she looked up at him he smiled even more broadly. She smiled back, and Dick considered that a great success in his mission to get her to open up.

"So, you feel better?" he asked. She nodded. "Ready to continue?"

With another nod, she said, "Yeah, thanks." After a moment of recollection, Raven found her place again, and got back into her story.

"After the, ah, ceremony, after Trigon had, disappeared, my mother was completely wrecked. She was mentally and physically shattered. She was terrified, and she made a panicked run for it. She ended up in front of a nunnery. The irony, right? After all she'd been through with religions, a bunch of nuns found her, brought her to a hospital, and gave her a place to stay and recover." Raven shook her head and rolled her eyes. "At the hospital, they confirmed that she had been brutally, raped," she struggled with the word. "But they could never identify a perp.

"She says that she knew somehow that she was pregnant, even though the doctors said it would take at least a couple of weeks to check. She tried to kill herself. Several times. I think it was my presence in her body that made her attempts unsuccessful. My demon heritage wouldn't let harm come to me, and therefore my mother. Even though they couldn't figure out how she survived, she was in a psych ward for a month, getting counseling, therapy, before they would release her. She was still underage, but she refused to return to foster care. The nuns had continued visiting her, though, and they offered her the chance to become a sister. She accepted. She always claims that when she moved into the nunnery, she finally found the feeling she was looking for all along. She felt welcome, accepted, and loved. And after what she had been through, it helped that she felt safe again."

Raven sighed. She couldn't remember ever talking so much at once, but she found she had a lot to say. "The pregnancy was... painful for her. And scary. Not only did she have the normal fear of any woman with her first pregnancy, but she was trying to hide the signs that her baby, me, was something... less than holy. She was afraid they would kick her out. But despite the strangeness and the pain and the fear, she got through it. I think it was the first time my mother had really succeeded in anything. In a way, she was proud that she had gotten through the nine months successfully. And when I was born, in the nunnery," Raven smiled as tears welled in the corners of her eyes, "she says I was the most beautiful baby anyone had ever seen."

Dick smiled at her. "And I guess you just lost all that charm as you grew older," he joked.

Raven turned to glare at him, her power rising to smack him in the head. "Ow!" he shouted as a black-energy hand hit him over again. "I'm sorry, it was just a joke! You're beautiful! Stop hitting me!"

The assault stopped, and Raven turned away to hide a small blush. "Thank you. Are you okay?" she asked, recomposed.

"Yeah, that's nothing. You should try getting the crap kicked out of you by Batman's gallery of rogues," Dick smirked.

"Pass," Raven drawled somberly. They both smiled mirthfully at each other.

After a minute enjoying each other's companionship, Raven offered, "Shall I continue?"

"By all means."

"As I was saying, I was a pretty little baby, and my mother actually loved me. She had thought that she wouldn't. I mean, she was afraid I would look like a demon, you know? But no, I was just a little pale, with purple eyes. The sisters thought it was God's way of making me unique." She snorted. "God had nothing to do with it."

As Raven shook her head, Robin suddenly asked, "Hey, were you baptized?"

"Yeah, why?" she answered.

"Nothing, no reason. Just wondering, since you were raised by nuns or whatever."

Raven's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You thought I would get burned by the holy water, didn't you?" she accused.

Robin, caught, shrugged in embarrassment, looking away. "Sorry, but how should I know how you would react to religious icons?" he defended adamantly.

Raven sighed. "I suppose that is fair. No, holy water doesn't burn me, I can enter a church, I received Holy Communion, I'm not allergic to silver or garlic, but I'm pretty sure a stake, wooden or otherwise, through my heart would kill me."

"I didn't suggest that you were a vampire," Robin stated, acting offended over her teasing.

"Mmhmm. Sure. Well, according to the Sisters, anyone can become a nun, no matter what happened in their past. It's a fresh start. So, Angela became a nun, and thus forever had a place to stay happily. Everything was fine for the first few years of my life. At that age, my heritage rarely caused trouble, except to Angela's mind. You know, me being a constant reminder of what happened and all. She loved me, but it was still _difficult_ for her.

"I remember before the problems really started, being happy. The nuns doted on me, and my mother was almost carefree for once in her life, and I was a child without worries. But my powers developed at about age five, and they made everything, just, awful." Raven closed her eyes, boiling with anger. Her clenched fists gripped the bedsheets, and several objects around them floated in the air, pitch black.

With a few deep breaths, Raven managed to release her power with minimal damage to what remained of the room. "Sorry," she said. "I have always hated my powers. They're unnatural. I can't control them. But as bad as it is now, it was even worse when they first appeared. They terrified me, my mother, and the Sisters. Their appearance forced my mother to admit my true origins to the Sisters. They forgave her, of course, since it wasn't her fault. She was just a lonely child when it happened, no one could have expected her to make a better choice.

"But I destroyed /everything/ around me. The smallest thought or emotion set my powers on a rampage, and I kept finding new things about them, but the cost was too high. Learning to move objects at will ended with an unconscious Sister and a trip to the ER. Accidentally phasing through a wall, one of only four times I've managed to do it, nearly incited a heart attack in a hundred and three year old nun." Raven laughed cynically. "The baby they had helped raise from birth, the beautiful creature they had adored, the perfect little Catholic child, was turning into a monster as they watched. I think they were afraid I would sprout four eyes," Raven said as her eyelids shuttered her brilliantly purple orbs and pressed out twin tears. "And then I did. I got really mad one day when I was nine, and all of a sudden I was a four-red-eyed monster on a war path. No one knew what to do, they were terrified. I almost killed the people who had always loved and forgiven me.

"In the end, I guess I tired myself out using all that power, and I just collapsed. I woke up after three days, remembered what I had done, and tried to run away. They stopped me, though. I think they were afraid of the damage I could do. It was their biggest charity to the world: sparing it from me."

Raven stood from the bed abruptly, almost knocking Dick down, and started pacing. Her recollections were making her emotional, and that could prove disastrous to the building's foundations. She hoped to calm herself by burning off some nervous energy.

Still pacing, she told her audience, "It was all horribly stressful on my mother. She constantly worried about what I might do, who I might hurt, who might notice my powers, all the damages she had to find a way to pay for. I was causing her stomach ulcers from the stress. It didn't get any better as I learned how to, if not control, suppress my powers, by avoiding emotion. She thought I was a time-bomb. She was wrong, though, because I managed to stay calm and detached almost all the time. I practiced being emotionless. I got so good at it, it freaked her out.

"When I was fourteen I decided it was time for her to get a break from me. I had always been home-schooled. Of course; I couldn't endanger other children. But I learned about a full-ride scholarship to go to the Gotham Prep Academy for Girls, and I applied without telling my mother. When I got accepted, there was a huge argument about my ability to handle the situation without hurting anyone or letting them find out about me. But throughout the entire argument I stayed dead calm, and nothing blew up. It was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life, but I did it." Raven smiled. "And that's how I convinced her to let me go."

"Would you mind telling me about the recent incident?" Dick gently inquired.

Raven shook her head. "It was stupid. You know how teenagers are. A group of girls singled me out as easy fun, someone to degrade and bother, because I had no friends and was different. Humans are more perceptive than you'd realise. They knew I was different, more than the usual goth kid. I didn't let it get to me for a long time. I nearly had the year done, but eventually, I just got _so sick_ of their bullshit, and I'd been repressing my emotions and powers for so long... It all just snapped. My powers reached out and destroyed the biggest, heaviest thing possible: the support beam of a building's west wing." Raven sighed, disappointed in herself. "I suppose you know from there, huh?" she prompted Dick.

He nodded. "Yeah. That's pretty much everything, I guess."

"And you're still willing to help me? Still willing to _talk_ to me? After everything I just told you?" Raven asked with disbelief.

Dick stared at his friend dead in the eye. With the most serious voice she had heard him use, he said, "Raven, do not ever suggest that I would abandon my friend, no matter what the circumstances, and especially because of things in their past that they couldn't change. I hope you know I'm not so fickle as that."

Grateful, Raven looked right back at him. "Of course you're not. I'm just not used to being treated like a human, I guess."

Flashing a smile, Dick reached forward to embrace his friends. With his arms around her he commanded, "Well get used to it."

Raven had no response to that.

Dick pulled back. Gripping her shoulders, he asked, "Are you going to tell Bruce all of this?"

It took Raven a long moment to think over his question. When she answered, though, she had conviction. "I think I owe him the truth, after all he's done for me. Giving me a place to stay, offering to find me a teacher, and everything. Plus, if he doesn't know what I am, how can he find someone to teach me?"

Dick nodded in approval. "A very reasonable decision. I've got to go help Bruce with finding Poison Ivy, before he goes crazy. You can tell him in the morning, when he has a minute to think about something other than plant-controlling women."

Raven agreed. As he stood to leave she said, "Hey Dick." Once he turned to look at her, she told him, "I hope you don't expect to ever hear me talk this much ever again."

Dick grinned his cocky teenage boy smile. "Of course not." He told his friend, "Get some sleep. If you have another nightmare, you can call me anytime. Night."


	7. Six: Rather the Devil You Know

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters mentioned herein. Using them for entertainment purposes only. I make no money off of their use.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY. I can't believe it's been five months. I'M SORRY. I've been working on the chapter in bits because I've been so busy, and it's finally done so I'm posting it immediately, with typos and all so I'm sorry about all of those. This chapter isn't my best work, but it's basically a filler chapter. Return to action will come with chapter seven, which hopefully will not take so long, but I just want to brag about one of the things that kept me so busy...

I GOT INTO THE COLLEGE OF MY DREAMS! I'm so happy!

Ok, enough about me, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and haven't all decided not to wait for this chapter and put up with this delinquent author anymore. I love all of you for reading!

Presenting...

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><p>Fully Alive<p>

Chapter Six: Rather the Devil You Know

Raven was once again sitting across from Batman, in that same deceptively average office in Wayne Manor. This time, though, Raven was at least looking at Bruce Wayne without the mask.

She had made it through her story again, the second time in twelve hours, and managed to keep calm enough to restrain her powers. Now they sat, in the silent aftermath of her admission, waiting for each other to say something. Raven refused to offer anymore, no matter how long she had to wait for his response, for him to tell her to stay far away from Gotham. Bruce was not willing to play mind games with the fragile girl.

"Thank you for telling me this," he said steadily. She looked up from her lap blankly. He continued, "First things first, I think you should let your mother know you're alright. She must have heard about the school by now, and she's probably terrified for you."

Raven nodded shallowly. Slowly she realized that Bruce was not going to try to send her to an exorcist. He continued explaining how she could call her through the bat-computer, so it couldn't be traced, but his words took a while to filter through.

Why hadn't she met people like this years ago? These two men just accepted her so easily, opened their arms and offered her security and friendship; it was nothing she had ever felt before.

A foreign feeling of safety warmed her, relief rushed through her, and she slouched down in her chair, shoulders shaking. Bruce stopped in the middle of his sentence and called her name with worry. He stood up, not knowing what to do, until he realised that she was laughing.

Her established patterns were in such complete upheaval, she didn't know how to react, except to breakdown and rebuild from the bottom. And even through her confusion and turmoil, she felt unbelievable gratitude for the new start they were giving her. She put her face in her hands and let herself chuckle like a maniac, gasping for air as her whole life started to make sense, and not seem quite so insane.

Confused, but relieved to not have to deal with a crying girl, Bruce stayed where he was until he heard her say, between gasps, "Thank you," over and over. "Thank you... Thank you... Thank you." It was like repeating that phrase held her together. And Bruce, father of a young boy, walked around the desk between them, and put an arm around the girl. She leaned her forehead against his chest as she tried to catch her breath.

When Bruce finally thought to look around to see if she had done damage, he realised that the only thing broken was a truly hideous painting that he had always wanted to get rid of. He thought lightly, at least the girl has good taste.

* * *

><p>Dick had been waiting in the hallway for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than thirty minutes, when Alfred carried a tea tray past him and entered the room without a word. Dick was now the only one in the manor <em>not<em> in that office with Raven. He wanted to kick something, from worry, and, honestly, a bit of jealousy. There was something special and covetous about being the only one Raven had confided in, and he was strangely reluctant to give up that honor, despite the fact that he knew it was necessary, and that he had suggested it.

Swiftly, Alfred emerged from the room, and Dick tried to commandeer him for answers, following him halfway down the hall, but was disappointed. Alfred provided no relief to his curiosity.

Dick sighed and slumped against the wall between two Wayne family portraits. They were drinking tea, he knew that much. At least that meant civil conversation. He tapped his foot a few times before pushing off of the wall and pacing across the hallway for a minute.

He turned around to pace across the hall again when movement from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He looked over and saw the door of the office open, and Raven standing there staring at him like he was an idiot.

He certainly felt like an idiot.

He grinned sheepishly as her, caught displaying his immature impatience, until he noticed her red face. His grin dropped and he walked up to her with concern. Upon closer inspection, he realised that she hadn't been crying. He should have known she wouldn't let herself cry in front of someone twice in less than a day. And she was still mocking him with her eyes.

He relaxed from his concern, and asked casually, "You alright?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Your emotions are annoying. Just come in and calm down. You're distracting me."

"Well excuse me," he answered sarcastically. She smirked as he walked around her and into the office. The teen smiled at his mentor, who was seated behind his desk.

Bruce grunted a laugh at his son, and stood. Raven rejoined the men, sat back in her seat, and took a sip of her tea. Dick did the same.

Bruce didn't wait long before dropping the bomb: he was going to bring Raven to the Justice League.

* * *

><p>The headquarters for the Justice League of America was actually a satellite called the Watchtower orbiting the Earth, constantly manned by at least one Leaguer. However, there were several points all over the globe where Leaguers could meet discretely, bringing people or technology they didn't want in the Watchtower. One of these such meeting points was a warehouse south of Starling City owned by Oliver Queen, AKA Green Arrow. Above ground it was nondescript, vacant, and unused. However, below the surface lay headquarters fit for superheroes, complete with laboratory, medical bay, and training rooms. In a large meeting room, eight members of the JLA surrounded Batman and Raven. The two stood close; his gloved hand rested protectively on her shoulder, and his body hid her from sight at most angles. No one sat at the table.<p>

The Leaguers looked at Raven with curiosity. They looked at Batman with confusion. He seemed to ignore them, waiting for something, but the hero surely knew who was there: Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, the Atom, one of Earth's Green Lanterns, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman. Wonder Woman tried to catch Batman's eye, to get an answer to her questioning look, but he ignored her and remained still and stoic, Raven following his example. Hawkman spoke in a low voice to his wife, but no one else moved or made a sound.

Raven felt fear slowly creep up her spine and tense her shoulders when she noticed a woman in a magician's outfit, Zatanna, looking at her with narrowed eyes. But as soon as he noticed her movement, Batman tightened his grip on her shoulder reassuringly. She turned and looked back up at him, and the room full of superheroes watched. Batman didn't move, but his own calm and assurance flowed over Raven in waves as her powers registered them. Raven visibly relaxed after looking up at the Bat, which confused the observers. Who was comforted by The Batman's scowl?

Raven looked up at the ceiling a second before a green figure melded down from above, straight through the concrete. Her precognition did not go unnoticed by the Leaguers.

The bald, green man, dressed in a dark blue cape with a large red X across his bare chest, landed smoothly on the floor right in front of the Batman, who moved from his position for the first time in minutes to shake the man's hand.

"Martian Manhunter," Batman greeted. "I'm glad you could make it."

The Martian nodded. "Yes, I am sorry for the delay. I was obliged to stop a drug deal in the city on my way here."

Green Arrow spoke up, "What were they selling?"

"Cocaine, in a small, blue paper bag," the Martian Manhunter told his compatriot.

"Dammit," the blonde man cursed, "I thought I had silenced that dealer. I'll have to have words with him."

Black Canary put her hand on her partner's arm to silence him. Green Arrow looked at her, and she nodded to Batman, who had straightened, and was clearly ready to explain the reason for the meeting to the Leaguers.

"I thank those of you who could come on such short notice. The Kryptonian couldn't make it due to some threat on the president's life. However, he probably wouldn't have been able to help anyway. This," he patted Raven on the shoulder, and the Leaguers openly stared at her since for the first time Batman wasn't blocking her from their view, "is Raven. She is a meta. I found her in Gotham two weeks ago. She does not have control over her powers. This makes her dangerous. I want to eliminate this danger. She needs a teacher."

Wonder Woman stepped up, and with a voice gentle with wisdom, she asked, "What are the nature of her powers?"

"They are evil."

Raven blinked in shock, and Batman glared at the person who had spoken: Zatanna.

Batman growled threateningly at the young magician in hotpants, and Raven hoped that she would stand down, and not reveal her secrets to the most powerful group of heroes on Earth. But Zatanna spoke again:

"I don't know where this girl you found came from, but send her back there. I sense... great evil from her."

Wonder Woman looked from her compatriot to the small girl Batman wanted to protect, and didn't know who to support, so stayed silent. Green Lantern had no such qualms. "What do you know about her, Batman? If Zatanna is right, you just brought an unstable and evil girl right to the JLA."

Batman glared at Green Lantern, who looked like he was trying to hide how much that glare unnerved him. "I know where she is from, but she is not evil. Zatanna, your powers are not wrong, but your assumptions are."

"What do you mean by that?" She demanded.

Martian Manhunter interjected, "I believe he means that you are right in saying her powers come from an evil source; however, the girl herself is not evil."

Batman and Raven looked to the alien, him blankly, and her hopefully. Zatanna scoffed.

"What do you think, J'onn?" Wonder Woman asked.

The martian's eyes were cold, dark, and strange as Raven looked into them, but unlike Zatanna's narrowed scrutiny, his gaze was, Raven thought, much less judgmental. She welcomed it. The edge of her consciousness felt a foreign touch, curious and passive in nature. She knew it was him, and she made no move to discourage his search. What could he find in her worse than Zatanna's harsh declaration?

"This girl is the product of evil," the alien answered the Amazon. "But that does not predetermine her destiny."

"Bullshit, J'onn, can't you feel that?" Zatanna half-shouted. "Her whole being emanates the worst kind of evil I've felt in my life, you can't ignore that. What else can she become?"

"Excuse me," Raven spoke up for the first time, capturing the whole room's attention, and not sounding sorry at all. In fact, she her voice was tight, as if she were holding back anger. "I'll thank you to not judge me based on some vague feeling you get from me. I cannot help what I was born as; I've tried." She breathed out her nose and seemed visibly calmer as she implored, "I came to ask for your help."

Her eyes were down, so she didn't see the looks the heroes gave each other, but she did feel a mixed reaction from her audience. A couple hadn't made decisions, Wonder Woman being the most disinclined to judge her, and Hawkman and Hawkwoman being the most apathetic. Green Lantern and the Atom seemed to be siding with Zatanna, though none felt so strongly as she, considering they couldn't feel her heritage declaring Hell's power. Black Canary, and Green Arrow following her lead, felt sympathy for her, and J'onn had already spoken his thoughts. The whole picture wasn't encouraging.

"Zatanna," Batman said gruffly, "I was counting on you to help me find someone with knowledge of magic to teach her."

The magician looked at him with distaste. "You'll never get me to help that thing," she declared.

Batman looked ready to punch the girl. Raven was concerned by the amount of rage she felt pulsing from him, and was afraid his rage might affect hers and be a catalyst to her powers. That would just vindicate Zatanna's judgement. Deciding to cut off the argument before it could do damage, she tried to make her voice as non-sarcastic as possible, and told the magician, "Well, then we shouldn't take up any more of your time."

Getting the implication, but apparently taking offense to her dismissal, Zatanna huffed out of the meeting room, slamming the door. The room stayed silent as Raven waited for Zatanna to leave her range, and for her emotions to fade from her concious. When they finally did, Raven sighed in relief, and looked up at Batman. She felt that he had calmed significantly in the time she'd been focused on Zatanna's exit.

"Is that it?" she asked him. "Were we counting on Zatanna, or is there anyone else who might know something?"

Batman shook his head. "J'onn," he called again on the martian, who looked up from some deep thought to Batman and the girl he had brought with him.

"Yes?" Martian Manhunter answered.

Batman asked, in a voice far from begging, but with feeling, "Is there any chance you could help her? Some of her powers appear to be similar to yours: emotional telepathy, telekinesis. Could you try to teach her to control her powers?"

"I am sorry, Batman." J'onn answered, in his deep, even voice. Each word seemed to have the same weight when he spoke, and Raven hung onto every one even as his answer dashed her hopes. "I see that this girl has much potential, and there would be very negative consequences of her continuing ignorance of her own powers. However, there is nothing I personally can do for her. With the exception of deep mind-altering, which would be highly dangerous, I could not help her understand her powers. That is something which I believe she will have to discover on her own. Martians are born with their powers and learn to use them the way human children learn to walk. I could not teach her. I wish that I could help."

Batman sighed deeply, but nodded at his fellow Leaguer. He looked around at the others. "Thank you all for your time," he said.

With that, he placed his hand on Raven's shoulder and began steering her out the same door Zatanna had recently stormed through. He didn't say another word, and neither did she.

They had ascended the stairs to the main area of the vacant warehouse when they heard a voice behind them call for them to wait.

Batman recognized the voice, and sure enough when the two turned back, Wonder Woman was gliding over to them. Raven knew the basics of what Wonder Woman did and where she came from, so didn't imagine she was coming to say that she could provide any solutions for her problems. So what did the Amazon want?

Wonder Woman touched down on the ground lightly before the slightly frustrated Batman and the very confused Raven. She completely ignored the man, and knelt in front of Raven to speak at her level- necessary because Raven was only around five foot three, and the Amazon was over six feet.

"Listen," Wonder Woman said to Raven, "I don't really care what Zatanna says she felt from you. I agree entirely with Martian Manhunter when he says that it does not predetermine your destiny. I have a feeling, that if you can control the powers Batman says you have, that you could become a very fearsome woman, and a great hero. And we could always use some more female heroes around here."

The woman smiled kindly at the girl, then stood. She said to Batman, "I'm sorry I can't help. I know of no one, even on Themiscyra with knowledge such that could help you. I will ask Hippolyta if she knows of anyone, however I doubt success from that. I wish you luck in finding her a teacher."

With that, the heroine flew up, headed North, and was gone.

Batman shook his head in exasperation. Nudging Raven on the shoulder, he started again towards the small plane they had taken there.

"Who's Hippolyta?" Raven asked.

"The Queen of the Amazons."

"Hm. Why did Wonder Woman come give me a pep talk?"

"Probably because you're a girl, and it goes against her nature to not encourage every girl in the world," Batman answered with a tired expression.

Raven thought that over a minute. "Weird," she decided.

"Very," Batman agreed. They got into the plane and an awkward silence descended as Batman took off and pointed the plane East to Gotham. After a couple of minuted he turned on the autopilot.

"Raven, I'm sure you've realized that that was a total flop."

Raven "hn"'d in agreement from the seat behind his.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Me too," droned her voice. She was trying very hard to not feel her disappointment while they were in a plane, and anything her powers could break could make them crash.

"We won't stop looking for a teacher for you. I promise you we will find someone. There are plenty of people on Earth who can, if not teach you about demon powers, still teach you about controlling your emotions, probably through meditation and things like that." He paused, waiting for a response, but none came. He continued, "But I can't put off searching for Poison Ivy any longer. She's already gone unfound for two days, and it could take a while to dig her out of her burrow. I'll find you teachers, but I have to find Ivy first. She's becoming more dangerous the longer I don't know what she's planning."

Again he waited for a response, but when his companion stayed silent he asked, "Raven?"

"That's fine. I understand." She was hardly letting the information register in her mind in order to stave off any sadness she might have felt. The plane, she had to keep from breaking the plane. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not while your powers are so unstable. It'll be best for you to just stay safe as home."

Do not get offended, Raven chanted. He is thinking of your safety. She took a very deep breath. Breathe in, she told herself, and breathe out, like yoga instructors say. "Ok."

_Do not break the plane._

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><p>AN: Leave a review if you liked it. Leave a review if you hated it and want me to write better.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers :)


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